When spectroscopy fails: The measurement of ion pairing

Spectroscopic techniques such as UV/vis, NMR, and Raman are powerful tools for the investigation of chemical speciation in solution. However, it is not widely recognized that such techniques do not always provide reliable information about ion association equilibria. Specifically, spectroscopic measurements do not in general produce thermodynamically meaningful association constants for non-contact ion pairs, where the ions are separated by one or more solvent molecules. Such systems can only be properly quantified by techniques such as dielectric or ultrasonic relaxation, which can detect all ion-pair types (or equilibria), or by traditional thermodynamic methods, which detect the overall level of association. Various types of quantitative data are presented for metal ion/sulfate systems in aqueous solution that demonstrate the inadequacy of the major spectroscopic techniques for the investigation of systems that involve solvent-separated ion pairs. The implications for ion association equilibria in general are briefly discussed

Heat capacities of aqueous sodium hydroxide/aluminate mixtures and prediction of the solubility constant of boehmite up to 300 °C

A modified commercial (Setaram C80) calorimeter has been used to measure the isobaric volumetric heat capacities of concentrated alkaline sodium aluminate solutions at ionic strengths from 1 to 6 mol kg-1, with up to 40 mol.% substitution of hydroxide by aluminate, at temperatures from 50 to 300 °C and a pressure of 10 MPa. Apparent molar heat capacities for the mixtures, Cpφ{symbol}, derived from these data were found to depend linearly on the aluminate substitution level, i.e., they followed Young's rule. These quantities were used to estimate the apparent molar heat capacities of pure, hypothetical sodium aluminate solutions, Cpφ{symbol} ('NaAl(OH)4'(aq)). Slopes of the Young's rule plots were invariant with ionic strength at a given temperature but depended linearly on temperature. The heat capacities of ternary aqueous sodium hydroxide/aluminate mixtures could therefore be modelled using only two parameters in addition to those needed for the correlation of Cpφ{symbol} (NaOH(aq)) reported previously from these laboratories. An assessment of the standard thermodynamic quantities for boehmite, gibbsite and the aluminate ion yielded a set of recommended values that, together with the present heat capacity data, accurately predicts the solubility of gibbsite and boehmite at temperatures up to 300 °C

A critical review of the thermodynamics of hydrogen cyanide and copper(I)–cyanide complexes in aqueous solution

Despite the importance of cyanide and of metal-cyanide complexes in gold hydrometallurgy, and the need for reliable thermodynamic data for modelling gold solution chemistry, no comprehensive critical overview of the thermodynamics of hydrogen/cyanide and metal/cyanide complex formation has appeared in the literature since that of Beck in 1987. In particular there has been little consideration of the values of the equilibrium constants (and related thermodynamic parameters) at the higher ionic strengths and non-standard temperatures more typical of hydrometallurgical processing. The copper(I)/cyanide system is of particular importance in gold hydrometallurgy as gold is often associated with copper sulfide minerals such as chalcopyrite, chalcocite, covellite and bornite, all of which except chalcopyrite are reasonably soluble in cyanide solutions due to the formation of copper(I)/cyanide complexes. This paper reviews the available thermodynamic data for the hydrogen/cyanide and copper(I)/cyanide systems in aqueous solution with special emphasis on measurements made at elevated ionic strengths and as a function of temperature. It has been found that, while reliable data are available at 25 °C and very low ionic strengths, the data for higher ionic strengths and temperatures are limited. An attempt has been made to rationalize the available data, and to point out areas where further careful measurements are desirabl

Chemical speciation effects on the volumetric properties of aqueous sulfuric acid solutions

Densities of fifteen aqueous solutions of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) have been measured by vibrating-tube densimetry at solute molalities (m) from (0.01 to 3.0) mol·kg−1 over the temperature range 293.15 ≤ T/K ≤ 343.15. These data have been used to calculate the corresponding apparent molar volumes Vϕ(H2SO4,aq), which represent a significant expansion of the volumetric database for this industrially-important acid. At 298.15 K the present results agree well with literature data, notably with the century-old values given in the 1926 International Critical Tables. At other temperatures, where comparisons are possible agreement with the present Vϕ values is also very satisfactory. Consistent with earlier studies, Vϕ(H2SO4,aq) was found to exhibit an abnormally-large decrease at low concentrations (m ≤ 0.1 mol·kg−1). This effect is consistent with a change in the chemical speciation of H2SO4(aq), from an essentially 1:1 electrolyte (H+(aq) + HSO4− (aq)) at higher concentrations to a predominantly 1:2 electrolyte (2H+(aq) + SO42− (aq)) in dilute solutions. The Vϕ values were modelled using variants of Young’s rule and the Pitzer formalism. Combination of these results with literature values for the standard volume V°(SO42−,aq) enabled estimation of V°(HSO4−,aq) and the standard volume change, ΔrV°, for the first protonation of the sulfate ion (H+(aq) + SO42−(aq) → HSO4−(aq)) as functions of temperature. It is shown that V°(HSO4−,aq) is sensitive to the value of the first protonation constant and probably cannot be determined to better than ± 0.3 cm3·mol−1 at present

Chemical speciation effects on the volumetric properties of aqueous sulfuric acid solutions

Densities of fifteen aqueous solutions of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) have been measured by vibrating-tube densimetry at solute molalities (m) from (0.01 to 3.0) mol·kg−1 over the temperature range 293.15 ≤ T/K ≤ 343.15. These data have been used to calculate the corresponding apparent molar volumes Vϕ(H2SO4,aq), which represent a significant expansion of the volumetric database for this industrially-important acid. At 298.15 K the present results agree well with literature data, notably with the century-old values given in the 1926 International Critical Tables. At other temperatures, where comparisons are possible agreement with the present Vϕ values is also very satisfactory. Consistent with earlier studies, Vϕ(H2SO4,aq) was found to exhibit an abnormally-large decrease at low concentrations (m ≤ 0.1 mol·kg−1). This effect is consistent with a change in the chemical speciation of H2SO4(aq), from an essentially 1:1 electrolyte (H+(aq) + HSO4− (aq)) at higher concentrations to a predominantly 1:2 electrolyte (2H+(aq) + SO42− (aq)) in dilute solutions. The Vϕ values were modelled using variants of Young’s rule and the Pitzer formalism. Combination of these results with literature values for the standard volume V°(SO42−,aq) enabled estimation of V°(HSO4−,aq) and the standard volume change, ΔrV°, for the first protonation of the sulfate ion (H+(aq) + SO42−(aq) → HSO4−(aq)) as functions of temperature. It is shown that V°(HSO4−,aq) is sensitive to the value of the first protonation constant and probably cannot be determined to better than ± 0.3 cm3·mol−1 at present

Thermodynamic parameters including acid dissociation constants for bromochlorophenols (BCPs)

This contribution reports standard gas-phase enthalpies of formation (ΔfH°298), entropies (S°298), and heat capacities (Cp°(T)) for all plausible 64 bromochlorophenols (BCPs) at the M062X meta hybrid level using a polarized basis set of 6-311+G(d,p). Isodesmic work reactions served to calculate the standard enthalpies of formation for all bromochlorophenol molecules and several bromochlorophenoxy radicals. Standard entropies and heat capacities comprise correction terms due to the treatment of O-H bonds as hindered rotors. Values of the bond dissociation enthalpies (BDHs) of O-H bonds, calculated for a selected series of bromochlorophenols, vary slightly with the change in the pattern and degree of halogenation of the phenyl ring. A thermodynamic cycle facilitated the estimation of pKa values, based on the calculated solvation and gas-phase deprotonation energies. We estimated the solvation energies of 19 out of 64 BCPs and their respective anions based on the integral equation formalism polarizable continuum model using optimized structures in the aqueous phase. Values of pKa decrease significantly from around 9 for monohalogenated to around 3 for pentahalogenated phenols

Investigation of complexation and solubility equilibria in the copper(I)/cyanide system at 25°C

The complexation of copper(I) by cyanide ions (CN−) in aqueous solution has been studied by glass electrode potentiometry at 25 °C and ionic strengths (I) of 1, 3 and 5 M in NaCl media. Overall formation constants, βn, for the equilibria: Cu+(aq) + nCN−(aq) ⇌ Cu(CN)n(n − 1)−(aq) with n = 2, 3 and 4, were quantified, along with the ionization constant (Kw) of water and the acid dissociation constant (Ka) of HCN(aq). The solubility constants *Ksn for the equilibria: CuCN(s) + (n − 1)HCN0(aq) ⇌ Cu(CN)n(n − 1)−(aq) + (n − 1)H+(aq) were also determined from a re-analysis of published solubility data for CuCN(s) in acidic cyanide solutions at I = 1 M(NaCl) and 25 °C. Because of the instability of uncomplexed Cu+(aq) and parameter correlations in the data, neither β1 nor the solubility product Ks0 (CuCN(s) ⇌ Cu+(aq) + CN−(aq)) could be reliably determined from the present data although estimates are presented

Formation constants of copper(i) complexes with cysteine, penicillamine and glutathione: implications for copper speciation in the human eye

Protonation constants for the biologically-important thioamino acids cysteine (CSH), penicillamine (PSH) and glutathione (GSH), and the formation constants of their complexes with Cu(i), have been measured at 25 °C and an ionic strength of 1.00 mol dm-3 (Na)Cl using glass electrode potentiometry. The first successful characterisation of binary Cu(i)-CSH and Cu(i)-GSH species over the whole pH range was achieved in this study by the addition of a second thioamino acid, which prevented the precipitation that normally occurs. Appropriate combinations of binary and ternary (mixed ligand) titration data were used to optimise the speciation models and formation constants for the binary species. The results obtained differ significantly from literature data with respect to the detection and quantification of protonated and polynuclear complexes. The present results are thought to be more reliable because of the exceptionally wide pH and concentration ranges employed, the excellent reproducibility of the data, the close agreement between the calculated and observed formation functions, and the low standard deviations and absence of numerical correlation in the constants. The present formation constants were incorporated into a large Cu speciation model which was used to predict, for the first time, metal-ligand equilibria in the biofluids of the human eye. This simulation provided an explanation for the precipitation of metallic copper in lens and cornea, which is known to occur as a consequence of Wilson's disease