Molecular Distributions at Equilibrium. V. Statistical-Mechanical Treatment of Ring—Chain Equilibria
Richard M. Levy, John R. Van Wazer · The Journal of Chemical Physics · 1966
Partition functions are set up for chain—chain and ring—chain equilibria of the type found in families of compounds in which unbranched molecules exchange parts. It is shown that all of the terms, except the partition function for nonbonded interactions within the molecule, cancel in the case of the chain—chain equilibrium constant, but the constants for equilibrium between the chain population and variously sized rings is considerably more complicated, with torsional freedom being the dominant factor. The terms making up the ring—chain constant are discussed and the ideas resulting therefrom are applied to the available experimental data.