SECTION II: Polybase properties of polyvinylamine

Abstract

AbstractThe polybase properties of polyvinylamine hydrobromide were studied by pH‐metric titration at concentrations ranging from 10−4 to 10−1 M, in the presence, as well as in the absence, of neutral monomonovalent salt at high concentrations. The dependence of pH on degree of ionization, in all the range of concentrations studied, diverges from the known behavior of polyacids and polybases. The titration curve could not be characterized by a single dissociation constant, even when the electrostatic potential, determined electrophoretically, was taken into account, or when this potential was suppressed by high concentrations of neutral salt. An attempt is made to explain the unusual behavior of polyvinylamine by taking into account the nearest neighbor interaction. A statistical treatment, based on the unidimensional Ising model, leads to potentiometric equations involving two constants‐the intrinsic dissociation constant pK, and a nearest neighbor interaction constant ΔpK. The experimental titration curve could be satisfactorily described by these theoretical potentiometric equations. The titration constants for polyvinylamine derived by this procedure are pK = 9.4 and ΔpK = 1.20. These values compare favorably with the constants obtained from the microscopic dissociation constants of diethylenetriamine and of triethylenetetramine.