Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopic study of ion-pairs of sodium and potassium monoethyl benzeneazophosphonates and their crown ether complexes in acetonitrile

The u.v.-vis spectroscopic study of ion-pairs of the sodium and potassium monoethyl ester of [α-(4-benzeneazoanilino)-N-benzyl] phosphoric acid, [α-(4-benzeneazoanilino)-N-4-hydroxybenzyl] phosphonic acid and [α-(4-benzeneazoanilino)-N-4-methoxybenzyl] phosphonic acid and their complexes with dibenzo-18-crown-6 and dibenzo-24-crown-8 is described. While the free sodium salts of monoethyl benzeneazophosphonic acids, with an extremely low solubility in acetonitrile, may be classified as tight ion-pair salts, the correspondingly more soluble potassium salts exist as solvated loose ion-pairs in acetonitrile solutions. The interaction of crown ether either with sodium or potassium monoethyl benzeneazophosphonates produces crown separated ion-pairs.