Hydrogen bonding association of a series of 4'-substituted-4-hydroxyazobenzenes in solution in organic solvents, and at a solid-solution interface

MSc thesis as an external student through the University of Birmingham (June 1977). Research carried out at Derby College of Art & Technology, Dept. of Chemistry (now the University of Derby) where author was a research assistant from 1974-1979. The Research Supervisor was Dr. Douglas A. Ibbitson. Work involved the synthesis and purification of a series of 4'-substituted-4-hydroxyazobenzenes. These were then adsorbed onto silica and alumina surfaces from benzene solution in order to observe monolayer adsorption on surfaces that had been previously characterised according to their surface area. It was found that there was greater uptake on alumina than silica due to the greater basicity of the former. Uptake was measured by UV/Visible spectroscopy. Also, the association constants of complex formation of these dyes with dioxan and tetrahydrofuran was measured in cyclohexane solution. A linear correlation between log Kc and the Hammett sigma value was found in both systems.