Enolate Structures Contributing to the Transition State for Nucleophilic Substitution on α-Substituted Carbonyl Compounds

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00254a038

The high S_N2 reactivity of α-halocarbonyl compounds is explained by the lowering of the intrinsic barrier by a major contribution of enolate structure to the transition state.This theoretical conclusion is now shown experimentally.The evidence is as follows: (1) Change in structure of a leaving arenesulfonate ion does not change the rates of attack of benzenesulfonate ion by nearly as much as it changes the equilibrium constants.A charge on the transferring phenacyl group of -0.48 is deduced. (2) The ρ value (-3.9) for attack of substituted thiophenoxides on phenacyl bromide is much more negative than that for attack on methyl iodide (-1.8). (3) A related ρ value is found for reaction of 2,4,6-trimethylphenacyl bromide with thiophenoxides (-2.2), showing a lesser, but still large sensitivity to nucleophile structure where addition to the carbonyl is sterically forbidden.The enolate structure leaves the attacking or leaving nucleophiles with a single electron each instead of the unshared pairs.Thus, the enolate structure is emphesized if the leaving group and the nucleophile readily lose an electron.