A thermodynamic study of selective solvation in solvent mixtures.

Changes in the (31)P NMR chemical shift of tri-n-butylphosphine oxide have been measured as function of solvent composition in a number of binary solvent mixtures. The data were analysed using a model that separates the contributions of specific H-bond interactions with the first solvation shell and the non-specific effects of the bulk solvent on the chemical shift. This allowed measurement of equilibrium constants between differently solvated states of the probe and hence thermodynamic quantification of preferential solvation in the binary mixtures. The results are analysed in the context of the electrostatic solvent competition model, which assumes that solvent effects on intermolecular interactions can be interpreted based on the exchange of specific functional group contacts, with minimal involvement of the bulk solvent. The thermodynamic measurements of preferential solvation were used to determine the H-bond donor parameter alpha for cyclohexane, n-octane, n-dodecane, benzene, 1,4-dioxane, carbon tetrachloride, acetone, dichloromethane, dimethyl sulfoxide and chloroform. For solvents where the H-bond donor parameters have been measured as solutes in carbon tetrachloride solution, the H-bond donor parameters measured here for the same compounds as solvents are practically identical, i.e. solute and solvent H-bond parameters are directly interchangable. For alkanes, the experimental H-bond donor parameter is significantly larger than expected based on calculated molecular electrostatic potential surfaces. This might suggest an increase in the relative importance of van der Waals interactions when electrostatic effects are weak.