Thermodynamic investigation of several natural polyols (II)Heat capacities and thermodynamic properties of sorbitol

The low-temperature heat capacity Cp,m of sorbitol was precisely measured in the temperature range from 80 to 390 K by means of a small sample automated adiabatic calorimeter. A solid-liquid phase transition was found at T=369.157 K from the experimental Cp-T curve. The dependence of heat capacity on the temperature was fitted to the following polynomial equations with least square method. In the temperature range of 80 to 355 K, Cp,m/J K−1 mol−1=170.17+157.75x+128.03x2-146.44x3-335.66x4+177.71x5+306.15x6, x= [(T/K)−217.5]/137.5. In the temperature range of 375 to 390 K, Cp,m/J K−1 mol−1=518.13+3.2819x, x=[(T/K)-382.5]/7.5. The molar enthalpy and entropy of this transition were determined to be 30.35±0.15 kJ mol−1 and 82.22±0.41 J K−1 mol−1 respectively. The thermodynamic functions [HT-H298.15] and [ST-S298.15], were derived from the heat capacity data in the temperature range of 80 to 390 K with an interval of 5 K. DSC and TG measurements were performed to study the thermostability of the compound. The results were in agreement with those obtained from heat capacity measurements.