Spectrophotometric determination of the acidity constants of calcon in water and mixed water-organic solvents

The acid-base properties of calcon (1-(2-hydroxy-1-naphthylazo)-2--naphthol-4-sulfonic acid) in water and mixed water-organic solvents at 25 °C at an ionic strength of 0.10 M are studied by a multiwavelength spectrophotometric method. The organic solvents used were the amphiprotic (methanol), dipolar aprotic (dimethylsulfoxide), and low basic aprotic (acetonitrile). To evaluate the pH absorbance data, a resolution method based on the combination of soft- and hard-modeling was applied. The acidity constants of all related equilibria were estimated using the whole spectral fitting of the collected data to an established factor analysis model. The data analysis program Datan was applied for determination of the acidity constants. The corresponding pK a values were determined in water and mixed water-organic solvents. Linear relationship between the acidity constants and the mole fraction of the different solvents in the mixtures exist. The effect of solvent properties on acid-base behavior is discussed.