Diffusion with molecular association in chloroform + triethylamine and chloroform + dioxane mixtures

The Taylor dispersion method is used to measure the binary mutual diffusion coefficients of chloroform + triethylamine and chloroform +1,4-dioxane at 25°C. The components of these mixtures associate, forming chloroform-triethylamine and chloroform-dioxane, (chloroform)₂-dioxane molecular complexes. A modified Hartley-Crank equation is developed to express the binary diffusion coefficient as a weighted average of the diffusion coefficients of the free molecules and the molecular complexes. Counterintuitively, the contribution made by each molecular complex to the overall diffusion coefficient vanishes when the concentration of the complex reaches its maximum value. The measured and fitted diffusion coefficients agree within 3% or better over the complete composition range.