Thermodynamic studies of aqueous and CCl4 solutions of 15-crown-5 at 298.15 K: an application of McMillan-Mayer and Kirkwood-Buff theories of solutions.

The density and osmotic coefficient data for solutions of 15-crown-5 (15C5) in water and in CCl4 solvent systems at 298.15 K have been reported using techniques of densitometry and vapor pressure osmometry in the concentration range of 0.01-2 mol kg-1. The data are used to obtain apparent molar and partial molar volumes, activity coefficients of the components as a function of 15C5 concentration. Using the literature heat of dilution data for aqueous system, it has become possible to calculate entropy of mixing (DeltaS(mix)), excess entropy of solution (DeltaS(E)), and partial molar entropies of the components at different concentrations. The results of all these are compared to those obtained for aqueous 18-crown-6 solutions reported earlier. It has been observed that the partial molar volume of 15C5 goes through a minimum and that of water goes through a maximum at approximately 1.2 mol kg(-1) in aqueous solutions whereas the opposite is true in CCl4 medium but at approximately 0.5 mol kg(-1). The osmotic and activity coefficients of 15C5 and excess free energy change for solution exhibit distinct differences in the two solvent systems studied. These results have been explained in terms of hydrophobic hydration and interactions in aqueous solution while weak solvophobic association of 15C5 molecules in CCl4 solutions is proposed. The data are further subjected to analysis by applying McMillan-Mayer and Kirkwood-Buff theories of solutions. The analysis shows that osmotic second virial coefficient value for 15C5 is marginally less than that of 18C6 indicating that reduction in ring flexibility does not affect the energetics of the interactions much in aqueous solution while the same gets influenced much in nonpolar solvent CCl4.