LASER RAMAN STUDY OF THE THERMAL REARRANGEMENT OF METHYL P-DIMETHYLAMINOBENZENESULFONATE IN SOLID STATE

Abstract

Methyl-p-dimethyl aminobenzenesul fonate (MSE), a stable compound in solution, slowly undergoes a rearrangement in the solid state into p-trimethylammoniumbenzenesulfonate zwetterion $(ZWT)^{1}$. The rate of this lattice controlled reaction can be thermally enhanced. This paper presents a laser Raman spectroscopic investigation of the solid state rearrangement of MSE into ZWT. Both the phonon spectra and the internal vibration spectra of single crystals of MSE and $MSE-d^{3}$ are studied as a function of percentage conversion to examine the mechanism of the reaction, the nature of the lattice rearrangement and the role of methyl group motions. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This research was supported by Air Office of Scientific Research Grant \#AFOSR 78-3676.