Description

This practical manual is devised for organic chemists and biochemists who, in the course of their researches and without previous experience, need to determine an ionization constant. We are gratified that earlier editions were much used for this purpose and that they also proved adequate for the in- service training of technicians and technical officers to provide a Department with a pK service. The features of previous editions that gave this wide appeal have been retained, but the subject matter has been revised, extended, and brought up to date. We present two new chapters, one of which describes the determination of the stability constants of the complexes which organic ligands form with metal cations. The other describes the use of more recently introduced techniques for the determination of ionization constants, such as Raman and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, thermometric titrations, and paper electro- phoresis. Chapter 1 gives enhanced help in choosing between alternative methods for determining ionization constants. The two chapters on potentiometric methods have been extensively revised in the light of newer understanding of electrode processes and of the present state of the art in instrumen tation.