Isothermal Titration Calorimetry in the Student Laboratory

Abstract

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is the measurement of the heat produced by the stepwise addition of one substance to another. It is a common experimental technique, for example, in pharmaceutical science, to measure equilibrium constants and reaction enthalpies. We describe a stirring device and an injection pump that can be used with a previously described isothermal calorimeter to perform ITC measurements. Two experiments are also described: an acid−base titration and the binding of Ba2+ to the macrocyclic compound 18-crown-6. These experiments visualize the difference between strong and weak interactions (large and small equilibrium constants) and introduce how reaction enthalpies and equilibrium constants can be calculated from titration calorimetric experiments.