IUPAC-NIST Solubilities Database

IUPAC-NIST Solubility Database
NIST Standard Reference Database 106

Solubility System: m-Xylene with Water

Components:
   (1) Water; H2O; [7732-18-5]  NIST Chemistry WebBook for detail
   (2) m-Xylene; C8H10; [108-38-3]  NIST Chemistry WebBook for detail

Original Measurements:
   Bohon, R.L.; Claussen, W.F., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1951, 73, 1571-8.

Variables:
   Temperature = 0.4 °C - 39.6 °C

Prepared By:
   G.T. Hefter

Experimental Data:   (Notes on the Nomenclature)

Solubility of m-xylene in water
t/°C	g₁/100 g solution (compiler)	10⁵ * Mole Fraction x₁ (compiler)
0.4	0.0209	3.54
5.2	0.0201	3.41
14.9	0.0192	3.25
21.0	0.0196	3.33
25.0	0.0196^b	3.33^b
25.6	0.0196	3.33
30.3	0.0198	3.36
34.9	0.0203	3.44
39.6	0.0218	3.69

Notes:
   ^a  Solubilities of (1) in (2) were reported as "optical density" (absorbance) measurements. Solubilities were calculated by the compiler using the Beer-Lambert law, the stated cell path-length (1 cm) and the authors' "extinction coefficients" (absorptivities) and corrected optical densities. This gave a solubility of g(1)/L sln which was then converted to g(1)/100g sln by assuming a solution density of 1.00 kg/L.
   ^b  Given in the original paper as 0.196g(1)/L sln.

Method/Apparatus/Procedure:
   A round-bottomed flask containing about 4 mL of (1) and 400 mL of (2) was evacuated, suspended in a thermostat, shaken for 24h and then allowed to settle for at least another 24h. Next, desired quantities of the water layer were syphoned into 6 glass-stoppered Erlenmeyer flasks. These 6 flasks had previously been tared, partialy filled with a suitable amount of diluent water, and reweighed. Weighed portions of the samples were inserted into a quartz cuvette and measured in a Beckman DU spectrophotometer. Absorbances were corrected for adsorption of (1) onto the walls of the cuvette.

Source and Purity of Materials:
   (1) Oronite Chemical Co. was sulphonated, hydrolysed, steam distilled, washed, dried by passing through silica gel and finally distilled. Purity was judged by refractometry (no value given).
   (2) Air-free conductivity water (no details given).

Estimated Errors:
   Solubility: ± 0.5% relative
   Temperature: ± 0.02°C