Tetrakis(decyl)ammonium tetraphenylborate: a novel electrolyte for non-polar media

Abstract

It has been shown that an ionic electrolyte can be dissolved in cyclohexane to give conducting solutions. The equivalent conductivity was analysed as a function of concentration and these data were used to calculate the ion-pair and triple-ion association constants and the distance of closest approach of the ions. It has been shown that, even with these bulky ions, interpenetrating ion pairs are formed. X-Ray crystallography shows that the quaternary ammonium cation is not tetrahedral and minimum-energy calculations suggest that these ions are in fact disc-like, allowing a distance of approach which is less than the hard-sphere radii.