The water in the organic solvents sometimes exerts quite a large effect on the equilibria, the existing state and the structure of solutes. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Particularly, in the solvent extraction study, since the solutes in the water-saturated organic solution are discussed, hydration of the solutes in the organic phase is a very important subject. It has been demonstrated that the water molecules are coextracted with the metal ions, 11-14 the metal complexes, [14][15][16][17] and the inorganic anions 2,3,[18][19][20] into the organic solvents, and the mean hydration numbers of these solutes in the organic phase were determined.There have been numerous studies about the ion-pair extraction of the crown ether complexes; extractability and selectivity of the metal ions have been discussed by using the overall extraction equilibrium constant and its component equilibrium constants. 21,22 On the other hand, in recent years, hydration of the crown ether molecules and complexes has been also studied by both the theoretical 23-31 and experimental [32][33][34][35][36][37] approaches, but most of these studies were in aqueous solution. Studies concerning hydration in the wet-organic solvents for the crown ether system are scarce.Iwachido et al. 14 reported on the hydration number of the alkali and alkaline earth metal ions and of those complexes with several crown ethers or cryptands in the water-saturated NB. We reported on the hydration number of the alkali metal ions and barium ion complexes with the non-cyclic poly-(oxyethylene) compounds (POE compounds) or 18-crown-6 (18C6) in the water-saturated 1,2-DCE. 17 However, the information for hydration in the wet-organic solvents for the crown ether system is still insufficient, and particularly information is lacking about hydration in various organic solvents. Therefore, in this study, we have investigated the coextraction of water with B15C5, B18C6 and the B18C6-K + complex into seven relatively low-polar solvents which are usually employed for the extraction study of crown ethers. The mean hydration number and hydration equilibrium in the solvents saturated with water are discussed.
Experimental
ReagentsB15C5 and B18C6 were purchased from Tokyo Kasei, and were used without further purification. Organic solvents (Wako Pure Chemicals): CTC, CF, DCM, 1,2-DCE, BZ, CB and o-DCB, were washed three times with distilled water. Potassium picrate was prepared from its hydroxide and picric acid (Wako), and was recrystallized twice from distilled water. Other chemicals were of analytical reagent grade.
ProcedureFor distribution of free crown ethers, a portion of an organic solution (20 ml) containing B18C6 (0 -0.06 mol dm -3 ) or B15C5 (0 -0.1 mol dm -3 ) was shaken with an equal volume of water in a centrifuge tube (50 ml) in a thermostated water bath for 1 h at 25.0 ± 0.1˚C. After centrifugation, the water concentration of the organic phase was determined by the coulometric Karl-Fischer titration (Kyoto Electronics MKC-210).For distribution of potassium picrate ...