Unexpected dependence of the protonation constant of 2,2'-bipyridyl on ionic strength

The protonation constants of 2,2'-bipyridyl and ammonia have been determined by pH titration at 25 degrees , at ionic strengths of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0M obtained by using LiNO(3), NaNO(3), KNO(3), LiClO(4) and NaClO(4) as background electrolytes. The protonation constants generally change by about 0.3-0.4 log units for both ligands in nitrate media. A similar change in the protonation constant of ammonia was observed in perchlorate media. There is, however, a change of about 0.8-0.9 log units in the protonation constant of bipyridyl in the perchlorate media. This phenomenon is interpreted by postulating ion-pair formation between perchlorate and the protonated form of bipyridyl, HBp(+) + ClO(4)(-) rlharr2; HBp(+).ClO(4)(-) with formation constants of 0.54 in 2M lithium nitrate and 0.45 in 2M sodium nitrate.