The effect of aqueous organic solvents on the dissociation constants and thermodynamic properties of alkanolamines

The dissociation constants of protonated monoethanolamine and N-methyldiethanolamine have been determined in methanol-water, ethanol-water, and t-butanol-water solvents. The alcohol mole fractions were ranging from 0.2 to 0.95 and the temperatures from 283 to 323 K, 283 to 333 K, and at 298.15 K, respective to the different solvents. The experimental results are reported with the standard state thermodynamic properties. The basic strength of the protonated alkanolamine decreases with decreasing dielectric constant and increasing temperature of the solvent. By using the dissociation constants of the alkanolamines in pure water, it is shown that a Born treatment alone is not able to estimate the dissociation constants when the composition of the solvent is changed to an aqueous organic mixture. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.