Experimental and simulation study on the solubility of 1-naphthylamine in twelve neat solvents

Abstract

To meet the demand of separating and purifying 1-naphthylamine from the reaction production and filling the solubility data gap, the solubility of 1-naphthylamine in twelve pure solvents (acetone, acetonitrile, ethyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, cyclohexane, n-heptane, methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, iso-propanol, n-butanol, and iso-butanol) was experimentally investigated in the range from 273.15 K to 308.15 K. It was found that the solubility of 1-naphthylamine increases markedly with increasing temperature in all solvent systems. The maximum solubility was 0.8978 (in the solvent of acetone,T = 308.15 K) and the minimum solubility was 0.005485 (in the solvent of n-heptane, T = 273.15 K). Then the experimental solubility data was correlated by the modified Apelblat model, Van't Hoff model, NRTL model, Wilson model, and Margules model. ARD% was calculated to assess the accuracy of the five equations and the results indicated that the modified Apelblat model fits optimally with an average ARD% value of 1.62 %. The effects of various physicochemical properties such as solvent polarity, hydrogen bond donor, hydrogen bond acceptor, and cohesive energy density on solute dissolution behavior were explored. In addition, the apparent thermodynamic properties of 1-naphthylamine in different solvents were analyzed based on modified Van’t Hoff model, which indicated the dissolution process of 1-naphthylamine in selected solvents is endothermic and entropy-driving. Finally, the effect of intermolecular interactions on the dissolution behavior was investigated at the molecular scale through molecular dynamics simulation studies, including molecular electrostatic potential surface, solvation free energy and radial distribution function analysis. This work will provide a fundamental guidance for the crystallization, separation, and purification of 1-naphthylamine.