Dielectric effect, counterion specificity

The propagation rate constant and the polymerization rate for anionic polymerization are dramatically affected by the nature of both the solvent and the counterion. Thus the data in Table 5-10 show the pronounced effect of solvent in the polymerization of styrene by sodium naphthalene (3 x 1CT3 M) at 25°C. The apparent propagation rate constant is increased by 2 and 3 orders of magnitude in tetrahydrofuran and 1,2-dimethoxyethane, respectively, compared to the rate constants in benzene and dioxane. The polymerization is much faster in the more polar solvents. That the dielectric constant is not a quantitative measure of solvating power is shown by the higher rate in 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) compared to tetrahydrofuran (THF). The faster rate in DME may be due to a specific solvation effect arising from the presence of two ether functions in the same molecule. 

Currently no adequate quantitative theory of the discrete-ion potentials for adsorbed counterions at ionized monolayers exists although work on this problem is in progress. These potentials are more difficult to determine than those for the mercury/electrolyte interface because the non-aqueous phase is a dielectric medium and the distribution of counterions in the monolayer region is more complicated. However the physical nature of discrete-ion potentials for the adsorbed counterions can be described qualitatively. This paper investigates the experimental evidence for the discrete-ion effect at ionized monolayers by testing our model on the results of Mingins and Pethica (9, 10) for SODS. The simultaneous use of the Esin-Markov coefficient (Equation 3) and the surface potential AV as functions of A at the same electrolyte concentration c yields the specific adsorption potentials for both types of adsorbed Na+ ions—bound and mobile. Two parameters which need to be chosen are the density of sites available to the adsorbed mobile Na+ ions and the capacity per unit area of the monolayer region. The present work illustrates the value... 

The value of kp can be determined in a simple manner from Eqs. (8.27) and (8.28) by measuring the extent of reaction or the rate of polymerization. This is enabled by the use of initiators that dissociate quantitatively prior to propagation reactions and by the absence of termination reactions. The rate constants obtained in this way are, however, found to be affected very significantly by the nature of both the solvent and the counterion. The data in Table 8.2 show that while polymerization is much faster in more polar solvents, the dielectric constant is not a quantitative measure of the solvating power (as shown by dme < thf)- The higher rate of polymerization in DME may be attributed to a specific solvation effect of two ether groups being in the same molecule (Odian, 1991). 

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