Distinguishing polyfunctional from monofunctional acids and bases by acid-base titrimetry, multiparametric...

A new technique for distinguishing diacidic from monoacidic weak bases (or dibasic from monobasic weak acids) is based on fitting the data obtained in a potentiometric acid-base titration to theoretical equations for the titration of a monoacidic base (or monobasic acid). If the substance titrated is not monofunctional the best fit to these equations will involve systematic deviations that, when plotted against the volume of reagent, yield a "deviation pattern" with a shape characteristic of polyfunctional behaviour. Ancillary criteria based on the values of the parameters obtained from the fit are also described. There is a range of uncertainty associated with each of these criteria in which the ratios of successive dissociation constants are so close to the statistical values that it is impossible in the face of the errors of measurement to decide whether the substance is monofunctional or polyfunctional. If the data from one titration prove to lie within that range, the decision may be based on the results of a second titration performed at a different ionic strength. Further fitting to the equations describing more complex behaviour provides a basis for distinguishing non-statistical difunctional substances from trifunctional ones, trifunctional ones from tetrafunctional ones, and so on.