Monomeric tert-butanol in benzene and cyclohexane solutions: A fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy study

The dependence of the hydroxyl stretching frequency of monomeric tert-butanol in cyclohexane and benzene solutions on concentration was studied at different temperatures. The -OH group in the monomeric form of the alcohol appears to experience very small or negligible alcohol concentration effects. This is attributed to the ability of tert-butanol to form dimers by hydrogen bonding, which in turn shield their polar groups from monomeric tert-butanol. As a result, the environment that the latter interacts with consists of weakly polar or nonpolar species (cyclohexane or benzene), and the nonpolar (methyl) groups of dimeric tert-butanol.