The magnetic moment of copper in copper(I1) acetate is known to decrease as the temperature is lowered (1, 2). This anonlalous effect has been explained by assuming that the copper ions are arranged in isolated pairs which interact strongly through exchange forces (3). X-Ray studies, supporting this explanation, have shown that copper(I1) acetate monohydrate exists as a binuclear molecule Cu2(CH3C02) 4.2H20 in which the copper ions are situated close together (4). By analogy, a similar structure has been suggested for copper(I1) salts of higher fatty acids (5, 6), although a layer structure allowing a kind of antiferromagnetic interaction between the copper ions has also been proposed (7). This layer structure, which is supposedly characteristic of fatty acid salts (81, infers a cooperative effect between copper ions extending in planes throughout the crystal lattice. In such a structure, the interaction between the copper ions should decrease if the lattice expands with rising temperature and some correlation between motion of the hydrocarbon portion of the molecule and the magnetic moment might be expected. The following investigation of proton magnetic resonance absorption in copper(I1) stearate shows no such correlation.
E X P E R I M E N T A LThe stearic acid used was Eastman Kodak white label grade, purified by repeated crystallization a t -20' C in acetone. Copper(I1) stearate was prepared by metathesis of potassium stearate it1 70% ethanol with a n aqueous solution of copper(I1) sulphate a t 60' C. The soap precipitate was allowed to settle overnight and was then washed repeatedly on a suction filter with distilled water and with aqueous ethanol. The product was dried in an air oven a t 100' C and then heated to about 130" C under vacuum to render it more compact. Portions of this soap used in the proton magnetic resonance investigations were reheated under vacuum in sample tubes, dry nitrogen was admitted t o the system, and the tubes were sealed off.Copper(I1) stearate has been reported t o melt indefinitely to a clear blue liquid a t 125' C (9). This was not observed, either for the samples which had been heated under vacuum or for new samples dried in air. On a Fisher-Johns melting blocl:, some sample particles were observed to deform slightly around 120" C,