DIPOLE-MOMENT MEASUREMENT ON COMPOUNDS DIMERIZING IN SOLUTION

The measurement of permittivity in solution can reveal a dimeric species when formed, and in principle allows calculation of its dipole moment μD and the equilibrium constant K, in addition to the dipole moment of the monomer μM. Here it is shown that the procedures used in the literature are unsatisfactory or even incorrect from the statistical point of view. Mostly the published values are completely wrong; in all cases their errors are badly underestimated. A statistical approach is now advanced, free of these shortcomings; nevertheless, the three parameters cannot be reliably calculated from permittivity data of common accuracy. © 1990.