Organic energetic considerations

It appears therefore that although the fundamental basis of our considerations is not new, the use which we have made of the energetic analysis provides a better insight into the factors determining the electrochemical properties of organic cations in other words it is heuristically more useful. 

Furthermore, the organic functionalization studies have indicated that multiple reaction products can form even for simple systems. Kinetic and thermodynamic influences must be considered in any analysis of the product distribution. Moreover, the studies have revealed differences in the dominance of kinetic vs. thermodynamic control between the silicon and germanium surfaces. The dissimilarity primarily stems from the fact that adsorbate bonds are usually weaker on Ge than on Si. This difference in energetics leads to observable differences in the degree of selectivity that can be achieved on the two surfaces. Another important motif is the significance of interdimer bonding in the products. Many molecules, even as small as ethylene, have been observed to form products that bridge across two dimers. Consequently, each analysis of adsorption products should include consideration of interdimer as well as intradimer species. 

Since most of the reactions discussed in the following chapters take place in aqueous media, we confine our thermodynamic considerations to reactions occurring in dilute aqueous solutions. For the gas-phase reactions of organic compounds with highly reactive oxidants (i.e., reactions in the atmosphere Chapter 16), we will assume that these reactions are always energetically favorable and, thus, proceed spontaneously. 

As shown in Table I, the energetic contributions made by hydrogen bonding to the total lattice energy, 7/tot, of organic salts of dihydrogenphosphate is considerable. The minimum contributions, 6, lie in a range of 20-25%. 

---