Abstract
ALTHOUGH the early measurements of acid-base equilibria in dilute solutions of water in alcohols made by Goldschmidt et al.1,2showed that water is more basic than an alcohol in these conditions, the variation of acidity function with ethanol–water composition3showed that differences must exist between solutions of water in ethanol and solutions of ethanol in water. This has been supported recently by a kinetic investigation4of the retardation of oxidation in dilute acidic solutions of alcohols and ethers in water. The retardation is caused by the formation of an unreactive oxonium ion, with the alcohol or ether more basic than water, for example, for 
at 0° C and 1.7 at 25° C for isopropanol in dilute sulphuric acid.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Goldschmidt, H., and Dahll, P., Z. phys. Chem., 114, 1 (1924). Goldschmidt, H., and Mathieson, E., ibid., 121, 153 (1926). Goldschmidt, H., ibid., 124, 23 (1926).
Stability Constants, Part II, Chem. Soc. Special Pub., 7, 66 (1958).
Braude, E. A., and Stern, E. S., J. Chem. Soc., 1976 (1948).
Wells, C. F., Farad. Soc. Disc., 29, 219 (1960).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
WELLS, C. Acid-Base Equilibria in Dilute Aqueous Alcohols containing Mineral Acids. Nature 196, 770–771 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/196770a0
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/196770a0
