ABSTRACT
Many varied empirical scales are available for the description of the effect of solvents on chemical processes in solution. Qualitative similarities exist between these scales, which are based on electrostatic, thermodynamic, kinetic, or spectroscopic properties, but simple quantitative relationships between them should not be expected as each scale is the resultant of many molecular factors combined in a unique way. There are numerous reports and reviews of correlations between cohesion parameter solvent scales, other solvent parameters and kinetic data. To some extent the solvent is being used as a probe in the region surrounding the activated complex, which is the aim of most kinetic and mechanistic studies. In some cases, the rate of chemical reaction is determined by a time-dependent transport property, often diffusion rate.
