Activity coefficient solvent effect

Presence of ion transport control due to a strong disequilibrium between the concentration of cations in the electrolyte and the material, because ion diffusion constants vary over the gradients of ion activity coefficients, solvent content, and electrostatic ion size effects. 

Investigations of the solubilities of aromatic compounds in concentrated and aqueous sulphuric acids showed the activity coefficients of nitrocompounds to behave unusually when the nitro-compound was dissolved in acid much more dilute than required to effect protonation. This behaviour is thought to arise from changes in the hydrogenbonding of the nitro group with the solvent. 

Since activity coefficients have a strong dependence on composition, the effect of the solvent on the activity coefficients is generally more pronounced. However, the magnitude and direc tion of change is highly dependent on the solvent concentration, as well as the liquid-phase interactions between the key components and the solvent. The solvent acts to lessen the nonideahties of the key component whose liquid-phase behavior is similar to the solvent, while enhancing the nonideal behavior of the dissimilar key. 

The solvent and the key component that show most similar liquid-phase behavior tend to exhibit little molecular interactions. These components form an ideal or nearly ideal liquid solution. The ac tivity coefficient of this key approaches unity, or may even show negative deviations from Raoult s law if solvating or complexing interactions occur. On the other hand, the dissimilar key and the solvent demonstrate unfavorable molecular interactions, and the activity coefficient of this key increases. The positive deviations from Raoult s law are further enhanced by the diluting effect of the high-solvent concentration, and the value of the activity coefficient of this key may approach the infinite dilution value, often aveiy large number. 

The effect of solvent concentration on the activity coefficients of the key components is shown in Fig. 13-72 for the system methanol-acetone with either water or methylisopropylketone (MIPK) as solvent. For an initial-feed mixture of 50 mol % methanol and 50 mol % acetone (no solvent present), the ratio of activity coefficients of methanol and acetone is close to unity. With water as the solvent, the activity coefficient of the similar key (methanol) rises slightly as the solvent concentration increases, while the coefficient of acetone approaches the relatively large infinite-dilution value. With methylisopropylketone as the solvent, acetone is the similar key and its activity coefficient drops toward unity as the solvent concentration increases, while the activity coefficient of the methanol increases. 

FIG. 13-72 Effect of solvent concentration on activity coefficients for acetone-methanol system, (a) water solvent, (h) MIPK solvent. 

The pH will depend upon the ionic strength of the solution (which is, of course, related to the activity coefficient — see Section 2.5). Hence, when making a colour comparison for the determination of the pH of a solution, not only must the indicator concentration be the same in the two solutions but the ionic strength must also be equal or approximately equal. The equation incidentally provides an explanation of the so-called salt and solvent effects which are observed with indicators. The colour-change equilibrium at any particular ionic strength (constant activity-coefficient term) can be expressed by a condensed form of equation (4) ... 

The second group of studies tries to explain the solvent effects on enantioselectivity by means of the contribution of substrate solvation to the energetics of the reaction [38], For instance, a theoretical model based on the thermodynamics of substrate solvation was developed [39]. However, this model, based on the determination of the desolvated portion of the substrate transition state by molecular modeling and on the calculation of the activity coefficient by UNIFAC, gave contradictory results. In fact, it was successful in predicting solvent effects on the enantio- and prochiral selectivity of y-chymotrypsin with racemic 3-hydroxy-2-phenylpropionate and 2-substituted 1,3-propanediols [39], whereas it failed in the case of subtilisin and racemic sec-phenetyl alcohol and traws-sobrerol [40]. That substrate solvation by the solvent can contribute to enzyme enantioselectivity was also claimed in the case of subtilisin-catalyzed resolution of secondary alcohols [41]. 

The competition model and solvent interaction model were at one time heatedly debated but current thinking maintains that under defined r iitions the two theories are equivalent, however, it is impossible to distinguish between then on the basis of experimental retention data alone [231,249]. Based on the measurement of solute and solvent activity coefficients it was concluded that both models operate alternately. At higher solvent B concentrations, the competition effect diminishes, since under these conditions the solute molecule can enter the Interfacial layer without displacing solvent molecules. The competition model, in its expanded form, is more general, and can be used to derive the principal results of the solvent interaction model as a special case. In essence, it seems that the end result is the same, only the tenet that surface adsorption or solvent association are the dominant retention interactions remain at variance. 

Similarly, concepts of solvation must be employed in the measurement of equilibrium quantities to explain some anomalies, primarily the salting-out effect. Addition of an electrolyte to an aqueous solution of a non-electrolyte results in transfer of part of the water to the hydration sheath of the ion, decreasing the amount of free solvent, and the solubility of the nonelectrolyte decreases. This effect depends, however, on the electrolyte selected. In addition, the activity coefficient values (obtained, for example, by measuring the freezing point) can indicate the magnitude of hydration numbers. Exchange of the open structure of pure water for the more compact structure of the hydration sheath is the cause of lower compressibility of the electrolyte solution compared to pure water and of lower apparent volumes of the ions in solution in comparison with their effective volumes in the crystals. Again, this method yields the overall hydration number. 

This coefficient has various names (medium effect, solvation activity coefficient, etc.) the name recommended by the responsible IUPAC commission is the transfer activity coefficient. In this book the effect of solvation in various solvents will be expressed exclusively in terms of standard Gibbs transfer energies. 

On the other hand, transition-state positions in bromination can be evaluated from solvent effects and their Winstein-Grunwald m-coefficients, since these latter are related mainly to the magnitude of the charge in the activated complexes (p. 274). The p- and m-values for most olefins included either in selectivity relationship A (44) or in B (45) are compared in Table 17. The m-value varies significantly with the reactivity as does p. Since m-variations arise from transition-state shifts, p-variations necessarily come, at least in part, from the same effect. 

A similar multiphase complication that should be kept in mind when discussing solutions at finite concentrations is possible micelle formation. It is well known that for many organic solutes in water, when the concentration exceeds a certain solute-dependent value, called the critical micelle concentration (cmc), the solute molecules are not distributed in a random uncorrelated way but rather aggregate into units (micelles) in which their distances of separation and orientations with respect to each other and to solvent molecules have strong correlations. Micelle formation, if it occurs, will clearly have a major effect on the apparent activity coefficient but the observation of the phenomenon requires more sophisticated analytical techniques than observation of, say, liquid-liquid phase separation. 

Reactions in solution proceed in a similar manner, by elementary steps, to those in the gas phase. Many of the concepts, such as reaction coordinates and energy barriers, are the same. The two theories for elementary reactions have also been extended to liquid-phase reactions. The TST naturally extends to the liquid phase, since the transition state is treated as a thermodynamic entity. Features not present in gas-phase reactions, such as solvent effects and activity coefficients of ionic species in polar media, are treated as for stable species. Molecules in a liquid are in an almost constant state of collision so that the collision-based rate theories require modification to be used quantitatively. The energy distributions in the jostling motion in a liquid are similar to those in gas-phase collisions, but any reaction trajectory is modified by interaction with neighboring molecules. Furthermore, the frequency with which reaction partners approach each other is governed by diffusion rather than by random collisions, and, once together, multiple encounters between a reactant pair occur in this molecular traffic jam. This can modify the rate constants for individual reaction steps significantly. Thus, several aspects of reaction in a condensed phase differ from those in the gas phase ... 

A single value for the rate coefficient for loss of CO from Mn2(CO)10 has been obtained29. At 80 °C, k = 3.9 x 10 6 sec-1. Solvent effects should play only a minor role in this decomposition. Therefore, an assumed value for the preexponential factor of 1014 sec-1 is reasonable. This gives an activation energy of 31.4 kcal.mole-1 which is in accord with the values for Mn(CO)sX. 

Equation 1 implies that solubility is independent of solvent type, and is only a function of the equilibrium temperature and characteristic properties of the solid phase. In real systems the effect of non-ideality in the liquid phase can significantly impact the solubility. This effect can be correlated using an activity coefficient (y) to account for the non-ideal liquid phase interactions between the dissolved solute and solvent molecules. Eq. 1. then becomes [7,8] ... 

A second type of ternary electrolyte systems is solvent -supercritical molecular solute - salt systems. The concentration of supercritical molecular solutes in these systems is generally very low. Therefore, the salting out effects are essentially effects of the presence of salts on the unsymmetric activity coefficient of molecular solutes at infinite dilution. The interaction parameters for NaCl-C02 binary pair and KCI-CO2 binary pair are shown in Table 8. Water-electrolyte binary parameters were obtained from Table 1. Water-carbon dioxide binary parameters were correlated assuming dissociation of carbon dioxide in water is negligible. It is interesting to note that the Setschenow equation fits only approximately these two systems (Yasunishi and Yoshida, (24)). 

This expression is analogous to Eiq. (2.3), in that (1 — (p) expresses the contribution of the solvent and In y+ that of the electrolyte to the excess Gibbs energy of the solution. The calculation of the mean ionic activity coefficient of an electrolyte in solution is required for its activity and the effects of the latter in solvent extraction systems to be estimated. The osmotic coefficient or the activity of the water is also an important quantity related to the ability of the solution to dissolve other electrolytes and nonelectrolytes. 

Table 6.2 presents data showing the effect of various CMOS on the activity coefficient or mole fraction solubility of naphthalene, for two different solvent/water ratios. To examine the cosolvent effect, Schwarzenbach et al. (2003) compare the Hildebrand solubility parameter (defined as the square root of the ratio of the enthalpy of vaporization and the molar volume of the liquid), which is a measure of the cohesive forces of the molecule in pure solvent. 

Because HDO or H2 0 molecules cannot be expected to have the same solubility in the brine of the main solvent species H2 0 (hereafter simply denoted H2O), their differential behavior must be accounted for by introduction of the appropriate activity coefficient ratio (or isotope salt effect cf Horita et ah, 1993a,b) F ... 

Stokes-Robinson Modification of Debye-Hiickel Theory Effect of Ion-Solvent Interaction. Debye-Hiickel theory explains the activity and activity coefficient data on the basis of ion-ion interaction for dilute solution. According to Eqs. (5.29) and... 

Experimenters would do well to avoid any unnecessary changes in the ionic composition of reaction samples within a series of experiments. If possible, chose a standard set of reaction conditions, because one cannot readily correct data from one set of experimental conditions in any reliable manner that reveals the reactivity under a different set of conditions. Maintenance of ionic strength and solvent composition is desirable, and correction to constant ionic strength often effectively minimizes or ehminates electrostatic effects. Even so, remember that Debye-Hiickel theory only applies to reasonably dilute electrolyte solutions. Another important fact is that ion effects and solvent effects on the activity coefficients of polar transition states may be more significant than more modest effects on reactants. 

Recall from transition state theory that the rate of a reaction depends on kg (the catalytic rate constant at infinite dilution in the given solvent), the activity of the reactants, and the activity of the activated complex. If one or more of the reactants is a charged species, then the activity coefficient of any ion can be expressed in terms of the Debye-Htickel theory. The latter treats the behavior of dilute solutions of ions in terms of electrical charge, the distance of closest approach of another ion, ionic strength, absolute temperature, as well as other constants that are characteristic of each solvent. If any other factor alters the effect of ionic strength on reaction rates, then one must look beyond Debye-Hiickel theory for an appropriate treatment. 

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