Polar Solvents

Abstract

Polar solvents are those liquids whose relative permittivity is sufficiently high that electrolytes can be dissolved in them. The best-known example of such a liquid is water. The oxygen end of this simple molecule is electron-rich and can stabilize cations. The hydrogen atoms are electron-poor and thus are involved in the solvation of anions. The structure of pure water is very much influenced by the hydrogen bonding between the negative end of the molecular dipole at oxygen and a hydrogen atom on an adjacent molecule. The special properties of water as a solvent for electrolytes are the central reason for its importance in living systems. There are many other solvents which can be classified as polar. Some of them, such as the alcohols, have the same polar group as the water molecule, namely, the hydroxyl group –OH. These solvents are also involved in hydrogen bonding, and are generally classified as protic. Other examples of protic solvents are simple amides such as formamide and acetamide. In these systems, the protic group is –NH2, the hydrogen atom being involved in hydrogen bonding with the oxygen atom in the carbonyl group on an adjacent molecule. There are other polar solvents which are not protic. These involve liquids with large dipole moments. Some examples are acetonitrile, propylene carbonate, and dimethylsulfoxide. In each case, the solvent molecule possesses an electronegative group which is rich in electrons. The opposite end of the molecule is electron deficient but does not have acidic hydrogen atoms which can participate in hydrogen bonding. This class of solvents is called aprotic. In this chapter, the properties of polar solvents are discussed, especially as they relate to the formation of electrolyte solutions. Polar solvents are arbitrarily defined here as those liquids with a relative permittivity greater than 15. Solvents with zero dipole moment and a relative permittivity close to unity are non-polar. These include benzene, carbon tetrachloride, and cyclohexane. Solvents with relative permittivities between 3 and 5 are weakly polar, and those with values between 5 and 15 are moderately polar. The latter systems are not considered in the discussion in this chapter.