2H NMR study of dynamics of benzene-d6 interacting with humic and fulvic acids

Samples of three humic acids and one fulvic acid with 1% loading of benzene-d(6) in sealed glass tubes have been studied with solid-state deuterium quadrupole-echo nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Calculated spectra combining three motional models, two isotropic models and a third more restricted small-angle wobble (SAW) motional model, are fit to the experimental spectra. One isotropic motion (ISO(v)) is assigned to vaporous benzene-d(6) due to the small line width, short T(1), and the loss of this component by about -25 °C when the temperature is lowered. The remaining two motional components, ISO(s) and SAW, are sorbed by the humic or fulvic acid. Benzene-d(6) slowly interacts with the humic substances, progressively filling SAW sites as ISO(s) motion diminishes. Both the sorption and increase in percentage of SAW motion are for the most part complete within 200 days but continue to a lesser extent over a period of a few years. For the SAW motion there are at least two and most likely a series of T(1) values, indicating more than one adsorption environment. Enthalpies of sorption, obtained from application of the van't Hoff equation to the percentages of the different motional models derived from a series of variable temperature spectra, are comparable in magnitude to the enthalpy of vaporization of benzene. In Leonardite humic acid, ΔH and ΔS for the ISO(s) to SAW transition change from positive to negative values with age, implying a transition in the driving force from an entropic effect associated with expansion and deformation in the molecular structure of the humic substance to accommodate benzene-d(6) to an enthalpic effect of strong benzene-d(6)-humic substance interactions. In contrast, at advanced ages, Suwannee River humic and fulvic acids have small positive or near zero ΔH and positive ΔS for the ISO(s) to SAW transition.