FACILITATED ION TRANSFER OF ALKALI-METAL CATIONS FROM WATER TO A NITROBENZENE PHASE CONTAINING VARIOUS CROWN ETHERS

The facilitated transfer of alkali metal ions from water to a nitrobenzene phase containing various crown ethers has been investigated using the four-electrode potentiostatic technique. Half-wave potential, diffusion coefficient and stability constant data have been obtained, and are discussed for various alkali metal complexes with nine crown ethers, namely, 12-crown-4, 15-crown-5, benzo-15-crown-5, dibenzo-18-crown-6, dibenzo-24-crown-8, dibenzo-30-crown-10, 4'-picryl-amino-5'-nitrobenzo-18-crown-6, bis[(12-crown-4)-2-ylmethyl]-2-dodecyl-2-methylmalonate and bis[(benzo-15-crown-5)-15-ylmethyl]pimelate. Some experiments involving the addition of almost-equal-to 4% of either poly(vinyl chloride) or poly(methyl methacrylate) polymers to the nitrobenzene phase show that the magnitude of the diffusion coefficient is reduced in only the latter case.