Spectrophotometric study of the charge-transfer complexes of iodine with antipyrine in organic solvents

The charge-transfer complex formation of iodine with antipyrine has been studied spectrophotometrically in chloroform, dichloromethane (DCM) and 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) solutions at 25 °C. The results indicate the formation of 1:1 charge-transfer complexes. The observed time dependence of the charge-transfer band and subsequent formation of I3− in solution were related to the slow transformation of the initially formed 1:1 antipyrine:I2 outer complex to an inner electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complex, followed by fast reaction of the inner complex with iodine to form a triiodide ion. The values of the equilibrium constant, K, are calculated for each complex and the influence of the solvent properties on the formation of EDA complexes and the rates of subsequent reaction is evaluated.