The Liquid Water−Benzene System

Abstract

The 500 MHz NMR spectra of water−benzene solution near saturation at 303.15, 323.15, and 343.15 K indicate that there is a proton−proton exchange between the water and benzene molecules. In the solution water appears to be present as a dimer attached to the benzene π cloud on one side of each of the two (initially degenerate) fundamental energy levels, as predicted by the Jahn−Teller effect. This view is reinforced by the fact that one of its hydrogen atoms hovers above one of the carbon atoms and the other three are spread upward around the C6 axis of the benzene molecule. It is also supported by the calculated NMR spectra. Both effects are responsible for the change in the NMR spectra of the water molecules from a single line into four AB signals.