Chemical Dynamics and Critical Phenomena: Electrical Conductivity and Reactivity of Benzyl Bromide in Triethylamine+Water Near its Consolute Point

The binary liquid mixture of triethylamine+water has a lower consolute point at a critical composition of 32.27mass% triethylamine. Starting at a temperature within the one-phase region, the electrical conductivity of a sample of this mixture was measured and found to increase smoothly with increasing temperature before falling sharply at 291.24K (18.09 deg C). Since opalescence was visible at this temperature, it was identified with the critical solution temperature of the binary mixture. A solution of 90muL of benzyl bromide dissolved in 90mL of 32.27mass% triethylamine+water was prepared, and the resulting Menschutkin reaction between benzyl bromide and triethylamine was allowed to come to equilibrium. The electrical conductivity of this equilibrium mixture was measured in the one-phase region and was found to increase smoothly with increasing temperature before rising sharply at 291.55K (18.40 deg C). This temperature was identified as the critical temperature of the ternary. The rate of approach of the ternary mixture to chemical equilibrium was also measured and shown to be governed by a first-order rate law. The temperature dependence of the rate coefficient followed the Arrhenius equation up to a temperature of about 290.74K (17.59 deg C). Above this temperature, the rate coefficient fell by as much as 22% below the value predicted by extrapolation of the Arrhenius equation. This suppression in the rate reaction in the vicinity of the critical temperature can be interpreted as evidence for the existence of critical slowing down.