Thermodynamic Properties of Nonelectrolyte Solutes in Ternary Solvent Mixtures

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the thermodynamic properties of nonelectrolyte solutes dissolved in ternary solvent mixtures, and to develop mathematical expressions for predicting and describing that behavior in the solvent mixtures. Thirty-four ternary solvent systems were studied containing either alcohol (1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, and 2-butanol), alkane (cyclohexane, heptane, and 2,2,4-trimethylpentane) or alkoxyalcohol (2-ethoxyethanol and 2-butoxyethanol) cosolvents. Approximately 2500 experimental measurements were performed. Expressions were derived from the Combined Nearly Ideal Multiple Solvent (NIMS)/Redlich-Kister, the Combined Nearly Ideal Multiple Solvent (NIMS)/Bertrand, Acree and Burchfield (BAB) and the Modified Wilson models for predicting solute solubility in ternary solvent (or even higher multicomponent) mixtures based upon the model constants calculated from solubility data in sub-binary solvents. Average percent deviation between predicted and observed values were less than 2%, documenting that these models provide a fairly accurate description of the thermodynamic properties of nonelectrolyte solutions. Moreover, the models can be used for solubility prediction in solvent mixtures in order to find the optimum solvent composition for solubilization or desolubilization of a solute. From a computational standpoint, the Combined Nearly Ideal Multiple Solvent/Redlich-Kister equation is preferred because the needed model constants can be calculated with a simple linear regressional analysis. Model constants for the Modified Wilson equation had to be calculated using a reiterative trial-and-error method. The C++ program for the Modified Wilson equation applied to ternary and heptanary solvent mixtures is attached