Enthalpic interaction coefficients of formamides dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide

Enthalpies of dilution of formamide, N-methylformamide, N-ethylformamide, N-propylformamide, N-butylformamide, N-pentylformamide, N,N-diethyl-formamide, N,N-dipropylformamide, N,N-dibutylformamide, and N,N-dipentyl-formamide dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide as solvent have been measured calorimetrically at 25°C. The results are interpreted in terms of the McMillan-Mayer theory. Enthalpic interaction parameters are obtained for pairs, triplets, and in some cases, quadruplets of solute molecules. In general, the enthalpic pair interaction coefficients are negative, whereas the triplet coefficients are positive. The interaction enthalpies are positive only for N-methylformamide and formamide. The magnitudes of the enthalpic pair and triplet interaction coefficients increase with increasing number of C atoms in the N-alkyl groups. The results for the formamides presented in this paper are compared with those for corresponding acetamides published earlier. Although the trends are comparable, distinct differences are observed. The contribution of the -CH₃ group at the CO side of the dialkylacetamides to the enthalpic interaction coefficients appears to be negligible. The same is true for -CH₂ groups at the NH side of a number of amides and related compounds. The enthalpic pair interaction coefficients of the mono-N-alkylsubstituted formamides show a shift of about 100 J-kg-mol^–2 as compared with isomeric N-alkylacetamides. This is discussed in terms of the difference in proton donating and accepting ability of several types of amide molecules. It is concluded that substitution effects should be incorporated in additivity models for these type of systems.