Effect of pressure on the solubilities ofo-,m- andp-xylene in water

Abstract

The solubilities of o-, m- and p-xylene in water were measured at 25.0°C up to 250, 385, and 50 MPa, respectively. The solubility increased with increasing pressure up to 120 MPa (50 MPa for p-xylene) and then decreased. The reaction volumes, ΔV^o accompanying the dissolution at 0.1 MPa were estimated as −3.6±0.5, −3.4±0.5, and −4.1±0.5 cm³-mol⁻¹ for o-, m-, and p-xylene, respectively, from the pressure dependences of the solubilities. The limiting partial molar volumes, of p- and o-xylene in water under high pressure were estimated from ΔV^o and the molar volume of the xylene. The partial molar volumes decreased with increasing pressure. The reaction volume for the formation of intra-molecular pairwise hydrophobic interaction between the methyl groups, as proposed by Ben-Naim, is discussed for the ΔV^o of p- and o-xylene at 0.1 MPa.