Spectroscopic Study of Acid-base Equilibria and Ion Pairing in Supercritical Methanol

Acid-base equilibria between 2,5-dichlorophenol (DCP) and various bases (LiOH, NaOH, and KOH) were studied in ambient to supercritical methanol, by measuring the absorption spectrum of DCP at alkali metal hydroxide molalities ranging up to 10 mmol⋅kg−1, at temperatures up to 250 °C and a pressure of 25.0 MPa. The spectrum was deconvoluted into contributions for the acidic (HA) and basic (A−) forms of DCP, taking into account a blue shift of the phenolate (A−) spectrum due to the effect of ion pairing with an alkali metal cation. Degrees of dissociation of DCP determined from the spectra suggested that the dissociation constant of DCP has a maximum around 150 °C, whereas that of KOH decreases with temperature. The phenolate-alkali metal ion pairing was examined from the peak shift of the phenolate spectrum in the presence of Li+, Na+, and K+. A smaller cation radius and higher temperature (thus a lower dielectric constant for methanol) give rise to stronger electrostatic interaction in the ion pair. The basicities of the alkali metal hydroxides in supercritical methanol were compared using DCP as an indicator, and were shown to follow the order LiOH < NaOH ≤ KOH. This order is the same as that for the catalytic effect of alkali metal hydroxides on the methylation of phenol in supercritical methanol (Takebayashi et al.: Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 47:704–709, 2008).