Solvatochromic study of 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone in neat and binary solvent mixtures

Preferential solvation of a solvatochromic probe has been studied in binary mixtures comprising of a non-protic and a protic solvent. The non-protic solvents employed are carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)), acetonitrile (AcN) and N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) and the protic solvents are methanol (MeOH) and ethanol (EtOH). The probe molecule exhibits different spectroscopic characteristics depending upon the properties of the solubilizing media. The observed spectral features provide an indication of the microenvironment immediately surrounding the probe. Solvatochromic shifts of the ground and excited states of the probe were analysed by monitoring the charge transfer absorption band and the fluorescence emission spectra in terms of the solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions. Fluorescence emission spectra show the dual emission due to excited state proton transfer nature of the probe molecule. The effect of solvent and the excitation energy on dual emission are also studied. The observed magnitude of the Stokes shift in the above solvents has been used to deduce experimentally the dipole moment ratio of the probe molecule for the excited state to the ground state. The dipole moment of excited state is higher than the ground state.     

Determination of reorganization energy of fluorenone and 4-hydroxyfluorenone in neat and binary solvent mixtures

Steady-state absorption and fluorescence measurements of fluorenone and 4-hydroxyfluorenone in neat and binary solvent mixtures were used to explore the reorganization energy in liquid system. The results of spectroscopic measurements were used to calculate, according to Marcus theory, the outer-sphere solvent reorganization energy, lambda(0), and the internal molecular reorganization energy, lambda(in). Preferential solvation of fluorenone and 4-hydroxyfluorenone in binary solvent mixtures has been studied by monitoring the outer-sphere solvent reorganization energy. In cyclohexane-tetrahydrofuran mixtures, the deviation from linearity in the lambda(0) versus the solution polarity is due to non-specific dipolar solvent-solute interactions. For cyclohexane-ethanol binary mixtures, both non-specific and specific (hydrogen bond) interactions contribute to the observed changes.     

Dispersion of nitric acid-treated SWNTs in organic solvents and solvent mixtures

The dispersion of pristine and nitric acid-treated single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has been studied in organic solvents and solvent mixtures using optical absorption, as a function of settling time. The extinction coefficients of both the pristine and acid-treated tubes at 500-nm wavelength was measured to be 25.5 (mg/L)(-1) cm(-1) in various solvents. The dispersibility of nitric acid-treated tubes increased with the solvent's hydrogen-bonding ability and reached 27 mg/L in ethanol and 35 mg/L in water. Nitric acid-treated tubes could also be dispersed in butanol/toluene and xylene/ethanol mixtures, which are known to be poor solvents for the pristine SWNTs.     

Preferential solvation of Brooker's merocyanine in binary solvent mixtures composed of formamides and hydroxylic solvents

The ET polarity values of 4-[(1-methyl-4(1H)-pyridinylidene)-ethylidene]-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one (Brooker's merocyanine) were collected in mixed-solvent systems comprising a formamide [N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N-methylformamide (NMF) or formamide (FA)] and a hydroxylic (water, methanol, ethanol, propan-2-ol or butan-1-ol) solvent. Binary mixtures involving DMF and the other formamides (NMF and FA) as well as NMF and FA were also studied. These data were employed in the investigation of the preferential solvation (PS) of the probe. Each solvent system was analyzed in terms of both solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interactions. These latter interactions were responsible for the synergism observed in many binary mixtures. This synergistic behaviour was observed for DMF-propan-2-ol, DMF-butan-1-ol, FA-methanol, FA-ethanol and for the mixtures of the alcohols with NMF. All data were successfully fitted to a model based on solvent-exchange equilibria, which allowed the separation of the different contributions of the solvent species in the solvation shell of the dye. The results suggest that both hydrogen bonding and solvophobic interactions contribute to the formation of the solvent complexes responsible for the observed synergistic effects in the PS of the dye.     

Ion transfer at nanointerfaces between water and neat organic solvents

Nanopipet voltammetry was used for the first study of ion transfer (IT) reactions between aqueous solutions and neat organic solvents. An extremely wide ( approximately 10 V) polarization window obtained with no electrolyte added to the organic phase allows one to probe charge transfer reactions, which are not normally accessible by electrochemical techniques, for example, the transfer of l-alaninamide cation from water to 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE). While anions (e.g., chloride) and relatively hydrophobic cations (e.g., tetraalkylammonium ions) can be transferred from water to less polar neat solvents such as DCE, the transfers of strongly hydrated metal cations occur only in the presence of organic supporting electrolyte.     

Homopolymer micelles in heterogeneous solvent mixtures

Amphiphilic homopolymers containing a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic functionality in each monomer unit have been shown to form polar or apolar containers depending on the solvent environment. When presented with a mixture of solvents, these polymeric containers are capable of releasing certain guest molecules. The fundamental mechanism behind these properties is investigated, and the utility of these assemblies in separations has been demonstrated with an example.     

Molecular solvent/ionic liquid binary mixtures: designing solvents based on the determination of their microscopic properties

This work aims at analyzing the microscopic features of binary solvent systems formed by a molecular solvent (dimethylsulfoxide or acetonitrile or methanol) and an ionic liquid cosolvent (ethylammonium nitrate). The empirical solvatochromic solvent parameters E _T(30), π*, α and β were determined from the solvatochromic shifts of adequate indicators. The behavior of the solvent systems was analyzed according to their deviation from ideality. The study pays particular attention to the identification of solvent mixtures with relevant solvating properties. We have focused our attention on the most remarkable microscopic property of the explored systems, acidity, selecting three mixtures with particular hydrogen bond donating characteristics.     

Synthesis and steric stabilization of silver nanoparticles in neat carbon dioxide solvent using fluorine-free compounds

The adjustable solvent properties, vanishingly low surface tensions, and environmentally green characteristics of supercritical carbon dioxide present certain advantages in nanoparticles synthesis and processing. Unfortunately, most current techniques employed to synthesize and disperse nanoparticles in carbon dioxide use environmentally persistent fluorinated compounds as metal precursors and/or stabilizing ligands. This paper illustrates a one-step process for synthesis and stabilization of silver nanoparticles in carbon dioxide using only fluorine-free compounds. Isostearic acid coated silver nanoaparticles were formed and stably dispersed through arrested precipitation. Silver bis(3,5,5-trimethyl-1-hexyl)sulfosuccinate (Ag-AOT-TMH) was reduced in the presence of isostearic acid as a capping ligand in carbon dioxide solvent to form silver nanoparticles. The addition of cyclohexane as cosolvent or an increase in carbon dioxide solvent density enhances the dispersibility of the particles due to an increase in solvent strength. The dispersibility of the isostearic acid capped silver nanoparticles diminished with time until a stable dispersion was achieved due to the precipitation of a fraction of particle sizes too large to be stabilized by the solvent medium, thereby leaving a smaller size fraction of nanoparticles stably dispersed in the CO2 mixtures. This paper presents the one-step synthesis and stabilization of metallic nanoparticles in neat carbon dioxide without the aid of any fluorinated compounds.     

Electron spin exchange in isoviscous solvent mixtures

Electron spin exchange rate constants and hyperfine coupling constants have been measured for two nitroxide spin probes in a number of isoviscous mixed solvents. Collision rate constants, normalized to 1 cP, are lower for solvents in which the major component is water. Further anomalies in the coupling constant for the systemtert-butanol-water are explained in terms of the marked concentration fluctuations known to occur in this solvent mixture. Substitution of a hydrophobic spin probe by one containing an –OH group leads to lowering of the spin exchange rate, possibly due to solvation of the probe.     

Copper-free Sonogashira coupling in amine-water solvent mixtures

Extensive study of different amine-water solvent mixtures was carried out for copper free Sonogashira coupling of aryl iodides. The influence of the palladium sources, ligands, amine-water ratio and further additives was also evaluated. Application of sec-butylamine-water mixture proved to be an excellent medium for rapid and efficient coupling of aryl-iodides at ambient temperature in the presence of PdCl₂(PPh₃)₂ as catalyst.     

Ion pairing of quaternary salts in solvent mixtures

Conductances at 25.00°C are reported for the following systems: tetrabutylammonium bromide in dimethyl sulfoxide-acetone mixtures (Bu₄NBr in Me₂SO–Me₂CO); tetraphenylphosphonium bromide (Ph₄PBr) in water Me₂SO, Me₂CO, and in the mixtures H₂O–Me₂SO, Me₂SO–Me₂CO and Me₂CO–H₂O; Ph₄PCl in Me₂SO, Me₂CO, H₂O–Me₂SO, and Me₂SO–Me₂CO; and tetrapropylammonium bromide (Pr₄NBr) in Me₂SO and Me₂CO. The data were analyzed using the Fuoss 1978 equation which is based on the coupled equilibria: (unpaired ions)(solvent-separated pairs)(contact pairs). The conductimetric pairing constantK _A =K _R(l+K _s) is the product of two factors:K _R, which describes the first (diffusion controlled) equilibrium andK _s=exp(–E _s/kT), which describes the second (system-specific) equilibrium. Ions with overlapping cospheres (of diameterR) are defined as paired: their center-to-center distancer lies in the rangearR; contact pairs (r=a) are ions which have one ion of opposite charge as a nearest neighbor, all other nearest and next nearest neighbors being solvent molecules. The quantityE _s is the difference in free energy between the states defined byr=R andr=a. For the Me₂SO–Me₂CO systems,E _s is positive for solutions in Me₂SO and decreases through zero to negative values as the fraction of the less polarizable acetone increases. For solutions in waterE _s is also positive. On addition of Me₂SO or Me₂CO,E _s initially increases, goes through a maximum, and then decreases to negative values as the fraction of the less polarizable component increases. The decrease is an electrostatic effect, common to all the systems. The initial increase inE _s appears when the small water molecules surrounding solvent-separated pairs are replaced by organic molecules which have greater volumes than water.     

Thermodynamics of complex formation in chloroform-oxygenated solvent mixtures

Complex formation equilibria in binary mixtures of chloroform with dipropyl ether (PE), diisopropyl ether (IPE), methyl tert-butyl ether (MBE), tetrahydrofuran (THF). 1,4-dioxane (DOX), acetone (AC), and methyl acetate (MA) have been analyzed in detail using several association models. Vapor-liquid equilibria, excess enthalpy and excess heat capacity data for these mixtures have been correlated using a multiproperty global fitting procedure. The thermodynamic properties for chloroform +PE, +IPE, +MBE, +AC, and +MA are best correlated using the ideal association model while for chloroform +THF and +DOX the best model is an athermal solvation model where the Flory-Huggins expression for the species activity coefficients is considered. The model parameters, i.e., the equilibrium constant, enthalpies and heat capacities of complexation, were found to be reliable, well representing the chloroform-oxygenated solvent H-bonded complexes. A detailed discussion is given on the test proposed by McGlashan and Rastogi to decide whether the solution contains only 11 complexes or 21 complexes as well. The complex formation equilibria in chloroform mixtures is compared to those previously examined for halothane (2-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane) mixed with the same oxygenated solvents. It was found that the H-bonds formed by halothane are stronger than those formed by chloroform.     

Microstructures of polybutadienes prepared by anionic polymerization in polar solvents. Ion-pair and solvent effects

The microstructure of polybutadiene produced by anionic initiation in diethyl ether and tetrahydrofuran with counterions Li⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺ was determined by ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR. Ionization suppressing salts were added in tetrahydrofuran to ensure that only the ion-pair reaction was studied. Results are compared with older published data. In general, the 1,4 content of the polymer increases with increasing counterion size but varies somewhat with solvent with a given counterion. The cis component of the 1,4 structures changes with temperature and counterion. It is suggested that this change reflects the proportion of cis and trans centers that carry the reaction.     

Adsorption thin-layer chromatography and viscometry of polystyrenes in solvent mixtures

The effect of the thermodynamic quality of solvent mixtures on the adsorption behavior of macromolecules under dynamic conditions was investigated. The chromatographic behavior of polystyrenes (PSs) in various mixed eluents was studied under conditions of adsorption and size-exclusion thin-layer chromatography as well as at the exclusion-adsorption transition point with silica gel KSKG adsorbent. The thermodynamic quality of the solvent mixtures used in the chromatographic experiments was determined viscometrically. The dependences of the intrinsic viscosity of PSs on solvent composition for solvent-non-solvent, two solvents, and theta-solvent-solvent mixtures were obtained. A correlation was found between Snyder's polarity indices for the solvent mixtures used in polymer chromatography under "critical conditions" and the intrinsic viscosity values of PSs in the same mixtures.