International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol.9, No.11, 2231-2242, 2008
Extended Grunwald-Winstein Analysis - LFER Used to Gauge Solvent Effects in p-Nitrophenyl Chloroformate Solvolysis
Specific rates of solvolysis at 25 degrees C for p-nitrophenyl chloroformate (1) are analyzed using the extended (two-term) Grunwald-Winstein equation. For 39 solvents, the sensitivities (l = 1.68 +/- 0.06 and m = 0.46 +/- 0.04) towards changes in solvent nucleophilicity (l) and solvent ionizing power (m) obtained, are similar to those previously observed for phenyl chloroformate (2) and p-methoxyphenyl chloroformate (3). The observations incorporating new kinetic data in several fluoroalcohol-containing mixtures, are rationalized in terms of the reaction being sensitive to substituent effects and the mechanism of reaction involving the addition (association) step of an addition-elimination (association-dissociation) pathway being rate-determining. The l/m ratios obtained for 1, 2, and 3, are also compared to the previously published l/m ratios for benzyl chloroformate (4) and p-nitrobenzyl chloroformate (5).
Keywords:Solvolysis;addition-elimination;association-dissociation;p-nitrophenyl chloroformate;chloroformates;Grunwald-Winstein equation;LFERS;leaving group effects