Bentley et al.
large (ca. 2).4b The results can be explained by competing
third-order addition/elimination mechanisms in which
one molecule of solvent acts as a nucleophile assisted by
a second molecule of solvent acting as a general base
many previous studies of solvolyses acyl halides have
been made in solvents of low polarity, and relatively
complex kinetics have been observed.9
,12
Unlike the
systematic studies of electronic effects of para-substitu-
ents in aroyl chlorides (1), substituent effects for acyl
chlorides are a combination of electronic and steric
effects, with the strong possibility of additional complica-
tions from mechanistic changes. Although stereochemical
studies provided mechanistic insights into other substi-
4
catalyst.
Mechanistic changes due to structural effects (e.g.,
3,4
solvolyses of 1, Z ) OMe and NO
2
)
are well established.
Examples of solvent-induced mechanistic changes are
rarer, and more difficult to establish. Solvolyses of
p-dimethylaminobenzoyl fluoride (2) in ethanol/water
provide a clear example of mechanistic changes induced
simply by adding water to alcohol solvent.1a In more polar
solvent compositions, the rates depend strongly on sol-
vent polarity, and the ionization reaction channel is
favored. As the solvent polarity decreases, the dominant
process is an addition/elimination reaction channel,
almost insensitive to solvent polarity. The above inter-
pretation is supported by a recent comparison with
solvolyses of benzoyl fluoride, which reacts by an addi-
tion/elimination mechanism.5a
2
13
tutions at sp carbon (e.g., oximoyl halides ), they are
uninformative for substitutions at carbonyl carbon. Leav-
ing group effects (especially fluoride/chloride ratios) are
7b,c,12
useful broad indicators of mechanistic changes,
and
kinetic isotope effects provide detailed specific informa-
tion about individual reactions.14
Data for solvent effects on rates and products allow
us to detect mechanistic changes for solvolyses of acyl
chlorides. Solvolyses of acetyl chloride in methanol and
in more polar mixtures proceed via the ionization reaction
channel; they show a low KSIE (1.3), a low S, a high
sensitivity to Y, and a relatively high sensitivity to
10
solvent nucleophilicity N. Except for the latter, these
mechanistic features are “similar”15 to those for solvolyses
of 1, Z ) OMe. The high sensitivity to N can be explained
N
by S 2 character or by nucleophilic solvation of a cationic
10
transition state, a proposal recently supported by
density functional theory (DFT) calculations of acetyl
chloride solvated by up to six methanol molecules.
1
-6
17
Kinetic data for many acid chlorides
and chlorofor-
mates (both aryl7a and alkyl
7b-e
) are consistent with
We now report rate and product data for solvolyses of
chloroacetyl chloride (3) and phenylacetyl chloride (4).
The solvolyses data for 3 are shown to be very similar to
reactions via one or both of these two competing reaction
channels (ionization and/or addition/elimination). Clear
differences due to mechanism-related charge effects are
also observed when rate constants in aqueous anionic and
cationic micelles are compared. However, the mecha-
nistic changes for chlorides are not as clear as those for
fluorides, and additional supporting data from S values
eq 1) in alcohol/water have been useful in characterizing
the two reaction channels, and the region of mechanistic
2
that of 1, Z ) NO , and of methyl chloroformate (MeO-
COCl). The data for 4 link solvolyses of 3 with those of
acetyl chloride and reveal mechanistic changes not previ-
ously apparent. Mechanistic interpretations are com-
pared with cation stabilities, obtained by DFT and other
MO calculations using Gaussian 03.18
8
(
change. For solvolyses of 1, Z ) OMe, S values are low
3
and close to constant. For solvolyses of 1, Z ) NO
2
, S
increases as water is added to alcohol.4 In contrast,
solvolyses of 1, Z ) H and Cl, show clear maxima in S as
water is added to alcohol, consistent with a change in
reaction channel.
Solvolyses of acyl chlorides have not yet yielded clear-
(
11) (a) Ryu, Z. H.; Lim, G. T.; Bentley, T. W. Bull. Korean Chem.
cut mechanistic conclusions. The scope of kinetic data is
Soc. 2003, 24, 1293-1302. (b) An S. K.; Yang, J. S.; Cho, J. M.; Yang,
K.; Pal, J. P.; Bentley T. W.; Lee, I.; Koo, I. S. Bull. Korean Chem. Soc.
limited by the high reactivity of acyl chlorides,9
-11
so
2
002, 23, 1445-1450. (c) Ryu, Z. H.; Shin, S. H.; Lee, J. P.; Lim, G. T.;
Bentley, T. W. J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2 2002, 1283-1287. (d)
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(
(
6) Liu, K.-T.; Hou, I.-J. Tetrahedron, 2001, 57, 3343-3347.
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16.
(16) (a) Sj o¨ str o¨ m, M.; Wold, S. W. Acta Chem. Scand. 1981, B35,
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(
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1
(
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