Electron attachment to nitro compounds in liquid cyclohexane

The electron attachment rate constants of more than 50 nitro compounds (nitroaliphatic and mono- and poly-substituted nitrobenzenes) were measured in cyclohexane at 20 °C using a pulsed conductivity technique. Among the mono-substituted nitrobenzenes, a correlation between the electron attachment rate and the solute dipole moment was found. Application of the Smoluchowski–Debye equation for diffusion-controlled reactions to the electron attachment process with consideration of electron–solute dipole and induced dipole interactions permitted the calculation of attachment rate constants which agreed within 20 percent of the measured values for almost all of the mono-substituted nitrobenzene. The effects of solute structure on the electron attachment rate is also discussed.