An Investigation of The Dissociation of Certain Cyclohexane Derivatives of Aliphatic Acids

For years it has been known that certain cyclic derivatives of aliphatic acids show hormone activity as growth regulators for some plants, and popular acceptance and application of the regulators has been remarkably rapid. Two commercially available growth regulating substances are indoleacetic acid and phenylacetic acid. Others also include indolebutyric acid and naphthaleneacetic acids (13). There are also certain phenoxy derivatives of acetic acid such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (commonly called 2,4 D), which have specific destructive effects to growing plants. Many derivatives of phenoxyacetic acid have been prepared, their physical properties determined, and an attempt made to correlate molecular structure and physical properties. Among the physical properties determined, the degree of ionization (strength of the acid) is thought to be an essential factor. Hayes and Bran h investigated the degree of ionization and determined the ionization constants of phenoxyacetic acid and many of its derivatives. In the present investigation, the degree of ionization of a series of cyclohexane derivatives of -substituted aliphatic acids was studied, since these compounds are comparable in structure to the derivatives mentioned and may have some properties in common.