Measurement and Development of Solubility Correlations for
Tritolylamine in Twelve Organic Solvents
Touraj Manifar and Sohrab Rohani*
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London,
Ontario N6A 5B9, Canada
Marko Saban
Xerox Research Centre of Canada, 2660 Speakman Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L5K 2L1, Canada
The solubility of tritolylamine (TTA) in 12 solvents (hexane, heptane, n-octane, decane,
hexadecane, toluene, benzene, 2-propanol, propanol, 2-butanone, methanol, and ethanol) was
measured gravimetrically and compared with the predictions obtained from the ideal solution
and UNIQUAC equations. To use the UNIQUAC equation, the specific heat and heat of fusion
of TTA were measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC results also indicated
that TTA does not have any enantiotropically related polymorphs. It is shown that the UNIQUAC
predictions are close to the measured solubility values. In addition, measurement of the solubility
of TTA in hexane was performed by an on-line density meter. The results compared closely
with those obtained with the gravimetric method. The solvents were chosen so that their polarity
indexes cover a wide range.
Introduction
Arylamine molecules in general and tritolylamine
(TTA; for its molecular structure see Figure 1) in
particular have a wide range of industrial applications
such as in the xerographic, polymer,
1
and pharmaceuti-
cal
2,3
industries. The arylamine molecules form a stable
aminium radical cation.
4
In the xerographic industry, arylamine molecules are
used as hole-transport materials because of their high
hole drift mobilities.
5-7
Typically, in organic light-
emitting devices (OLEDs) and in organic photoreceptors,
the arylamine molecules are used in the form of a thin
solid film. Constantly increasing demand for the im-
provement of these devices (durability, thermodynamic
stability, and higher efficiency) necessitates stricter
control over the properties and characteristics of the
hole-transport materials that make up such devices.
Although the use of arylamine molecules in opto-
electronic devices (OLEDs
8-10
and organic photo-
receptors
11-13
) has been well documented, no data on
the solubilities of their constituent arylamine molecules
in different solvents have been published. The solubility
information is of special importance in the study of
nucleation and growth kinetics of these molecules. For
example, in the xerographic industry, a minor impurity
in these molecules could have a serious effect on the
operation of the optoelectronic devices. In OLEDs, the
tendency of the hole-transport materials to crystallize
on aging is thought to be one of the main causes of
degradation.
14-16
To prevent crystallization of these
molecules, precise knowledge of the kinetics and solubil-
ity of the hole-transport materials is essential.
In this study, we investigated the solubility of TTA
in different solvents. In a series of subsequent papers,
we will report the solubilities of other arylamine mol-
ecules that we have synthesized in our laboratory, as
well as on the crystallization kinetics of these molecules.
For the measurement of solubility, a gravimetric method
was used. In addition, an on-line density meter was used
to monitor the solubility of TTA in hexane. The two
adjustable parameters of the UNIQUAC model were
estimated for the prediction of the solubilities of TTA.
Theory
It is desirable to estimate the solubility of a solid in
a solution completely from the properties of the pure
components to minimize the amount of experiments
required.
If we assume that there is no appreciable solubility
of the liquid solvent in the solid phase, then the equation
showing the equilibrium between two phases becomes
where f represents the fugacity and the subscript 2
refers to the solute. By assuming that the solution is
nonideal and considering the intermolecular and in-
tramolecular forces, the solubility of a solute in solution
can be written as
* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail:
rohani@eng.uwo.ca.
Figure 1. Molecular structure of tritolylamine molecule.
f
2
(pure solid) ) f
2
(solute in liquid solution) (1)
x
2
)
f
2
(pure solid)
γ
2
f
2
0
(2)
970 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2005, 44, 970-976
10.1021/ie049352v CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 01/25/2005