Abstract
Complexation of ortho-xylyl-17-crown-5 (X17C5) with alkali metal ions in acetonitrile was studied by 7Li and 23Na NMR spectroscopy. The complex formation constants of X17C5 with LiI, LiSCN, NaI, and NaSCN were determined by investigating the changes in the chemical shifts as a function of the concentration ratio of X17C5 to metal ion. It was found that X17C5 forms 1:1 complex with Li+ and Na+ ions and the log Kf's for the complexation with LiI, LiSCN, NaI, and NaSCN were determined to be 2.88, 2.43, 2.53, and 2.30, respectively. In particular, the kinetics of complexation of X17C5 with Na+ was investigated by the method of 23Na NMR lineshape analysis. Activation energies were determined from Arrhenius plot of the resultant rate constant data to be 25.4 kJ/mol for NaI and 15.1 kJ/mol for NaSCN. Other kinetic parameters were also calculated by employing the Eyring equation. The decomplexation rates measured were 1.82 × 104 M-1s-1 for NaI and 1.50 × 104 M-1s-1 for NaSCN. It is concluded that the decomplexation mechanism is predominantly a bimolecular cation exchange for both cases.