Solvent effects on infrared spectra of methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate in pure organic solvents and in ethanol/CCl4 binary solvents

Infrared spectroscopy studies of methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate (MHB) in 17 different organic solvents and in ethanol/CCl4 binary solvent were undertaken to investigate the solvent-solute interactions. The frequencies of carbonyl stretching vibration nu(C=O) of MHB in single solvents were correlated with the solvent acceptor number (AN) and the linear solvation energy relationships (LSER). The assignments of the two bands of nu(C=O) of MHB in alcohols and the single one of that in non-alcoholic solvents were discussed. The shifts of nu(C=O) of MHB in ethanol/CCl4 binary solvents showed that several kinds of solute-solvent hydrogen bonding interactions coexisted in the mixture solvents, with a change in the mole fraction of ethanol in the binary solvents.