Elimination reactions of β-Cyano Thioethers: Evidence for a Carbanion Intermediate and a Change in Rate-Limiting Step

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00223a028

The addition reactions of thiol anions to form adducts with acrylonitrile (1), 1-chloroacrylonitrile (2), and fumaronitrile (3) and the corresponding elimination reactions were examined in aqueous solution, generally containing 8.3percent Me2SO at 25 deg C.Deuterium exchange into the methanethiol and thiosalicylate adducts of 1 is faster than elimination.Deuterium exchange causes biphasic kinetics for elimination reactions in D2O of the p-nitrothiophenol, but not of the pentafluorothiophenol, adducts 1 and 2.The kinetic solvent deuterium isotope effects of k_n^HOH/k_n^DOD = 2.0 for addition of thiosalicylate to form 3 and 1.1-1.2 for addition of β-mercaptoethanol and thioacetic acid anions to form 1 are smaller than the product discrimination isotope effects of k_H/k_D = 3.2, 2.8 and 3.2 for these reactions.These differences show that the reactions proceed through a carbanion intermediate that is protonated faster than it expels basic thiol anions.These results exclude a concerted mechanism for addition-elimination with a concurrent, separate exchange reaction.The solvent kinetic deuterium isotope effect is 3.9 for the addition of thionitrobenzoate dianion to form 3.Buffer catalysis of elimination becomes more significant with more acidic leaving groups and is larger for 3 than for 1 with a given leaving group.The results show that the rate-limiting step changes from addition-elimination of the thiol anion to proton transfer with decreasing pK_a of the thiol; the same change is favored by addition of CN to the α-position for a given thiol.The effect of the α-CN group is attributed to conjugation with the developing double bond in the transition state for elimination.The Broensted slope is β = 0.90 for rate-limiting deprotonation of the pentafluorothiophenol adduct 3 and Broensted-type plots against the pK_a of the leaving group have slopes of β_1g = -0.25 and -0.54 for predominantly rate-limiting deprotonation and leaving group expulsion, respectively.