Lithium-7 nuclear magnetic resonance and calorimetric study of lithium crown complexes in various solvents

Lithium-7 NMR studies have been carried out on lithium ion complexes with crown ethers 12C4, 15C5, and 18C6 in water and in several nonaqueous solvents. In all cases the exchange between the free and complexed lithium ion was fast on the NMR time scale, and a single, population average, resonance was observed. Both 1:1 and 2:1 (sandwich) complexes were observed between lithium ion and 12C4 in nitromethane solution. The stability of the complexes varied very significantly with the solvent. With the exception of pyridine, the stability varies inversely with the Gutmann donor number of the solvent. In general, the stability order of the complexes was found to be 15C5·Li+>12C4·Li+>18C6·Li+. Calorimetric studies on these complexes show that, in most cases, the complexes are both enthalpy and entropy stabilized.