Electric Conductance in Liquid Hydrocarbons. II. Methyl-Substituted Benzenes

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Abstract
The electric conductance of methyl‐substituted benzenes has been determined between 20° and 65°C both in the presence and in the absence of oxygen over a range of electric fields (50 to 1200 V/cm). Five of the six compounds studied resembled benzene in their electric behavior. Although the conduction level decreased with increasing number of substituent methyl groups, the thermal activation energy, within experimental error, was the same and was similar to that of benzene. The behavior of 1,3,5‐trimethylbenzene was found to differ in all respects from the other members of this series. Its temperature dependence and over‐all conduction level were, however, closely similar to that of saturated hydrocarbons, such as cyclohexane or n‐hexane. The unusual behavior of this compound suggests that the available π electrons cannot participate in the conduction process. The steric arrangement of the methyl groups appears to significantly influence the conduction process. These findings have been interpreted to suggest the existence of an electron transfer mechanism involving sterically favorable molecular collisions.

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