J. Catalan et al., ON SOLVENT BASICITY - ANALYSIS OF THE SB SCALE, The journal of physical chemistry. A, Molecules, spectroscopy, kinetics, environment, & general theory, 101(28), 1997, pp. 5183-5189
The solvent basicity (SB) scale, introduced by Catalan et al. in 1996,
was compared with theoretical data (V-min and epsilon(mo(Vmin))), cal
culated at the HF-SCF 6-31G(*) level, and with experimental data (Del
ta H-f of Arnett, delta Delta H-solv of Laynez, Delta Delta (v) over t
ilde(1)-(2) and Delta Delta (v) over tilde(3)-(5) of Laurence, and Del
ta Hg-->solvent for SO2 and I-2 of Benoit and Louis). The fact a SB sc
ale is a family-independent scale results in no grouping of the solven
ts in parallel lines. As also shown by the results, a basicity scale c
onstructed around a standard phenolic Bronsted acid (R-OH) such as 4-n
itrophenol or 4-fluorophenol is more correct than one based on an unsu
bstituted amine such as 4-nitroaniline. The SB scale has a near-unity
covalent-to-electrostatic ratio, so it is sensitive to both covalent a
nd electrostatic interactions and hence approaches closely the require
ments for a general basicity scale.