6000
J . Org. Chem. 1999, 64, 6000-6004
On th e Mech a n ism of Ester Hyd r olysis: Tr iflu or oa ceta te
Der iva tives
Mariana A. Fernandez and Rita H. de Rossi*
Instituto de Investigaciones en Fı´sico Quı´mica de Co´rdoba (INFIQC), Facultad de Ciencias Qu´ımicas,
Departamento de Quı´mica Orga´nica, Universidad Nacional de Co´rdoba, Ciudad Universitaria,
5000 Co´rdoba, Argentina
Received March 29, 1999
The hydrolysis rate of trifluoacetates of ArX (X ) p-CH3, H, p-F, p-Cl, and m-Cl) was measured as
function of pH and buffer concentration. All the reactions were catalyzed by the buffer bases, and
the Bronsted plot showed a small upward curvature. The kinetic isotope effect is ca. 2.5-2.3 for
the reactions of water. The Hammett plots as well as the plots of log kB vs pKlg are linear. The
slopes of these plots are remarkably similar to those corresponding to the hydrolysis of aryl acetates
and aryl formates. From these results, we conclude that the reaction corresponds to general base-
catalyzed addition of water and break of the leaving group with no intermediate with finite lifetime
despite the fact that the trifluoromethyl group stabilized the intermediate considerably.
The mechanism of hydrolysis of esters has been
is a determining factor for the transition-state structure
and that aromaticity and the accompanying delocalized
nature of the attacking charge do not result in significant
alteration in the transition-state structure.
considered to involve a two-step mechanism for a long
time. The formation of a tetrahedral intermediate in this
mechanism (eq 1) is largely rate determining.1
Recently, we reported on the effect of cyclodextrin on
the hydrolysis of trifluoracetate esters and included some
results regarding the hydrolysis of the substrates itself.8
Our results seemed to be more concordant with a mech-
anism involving a tetrahedral intermediate. Therefore,
we undertook the study of other substrates in order to
get insight into the mechanism for these compounds. Our
aim was to determine whether the higher stability of the
tetrahedral intermediate due to the trifluoromethyl
group9 could change the transition state from concerted
to stepwise. We report here the reactions of compounds
3-5 and some complementary results of those already
published8 for substrates 1 and 2.
On the other hand, William et al.2 have postulated a
concerted mechanism for the reactions of phenyl esters
with phenolate ions when the pKa of the leaving group
is between 2 and 11. Guthrie,3 on the basis of literature
results and thermodynamic calculations of the stability
of the intermediates involved, suggested that in general
the aryl acetate reactions occur without intermediates
of significant lifetime due to very small barriers for the
bond formation and rupture from the intermediate.
Further Bro¨nsted analysis has led J encks and co-workers
to conclude that substituted phenyl formates as well as
phenyl acetates react with phenolate anions through a
concerted mechanism.4 These conclusions have not been
universally accepted, and evidence from Bro¨nsted studies
favoring a stepwise reaction pathway for aryl acetates
has been presented.5,6
Comparison of the free energy relationships of these
compounds and those of related ones led us to conclude
that the transition state of these reactions have the same
degree of bond formation and rupture as that of acetates
and formates with the same leaving group, contrary to
our previous belief based on a limited number of data.10
From studies of isotopic effect, Hengge7 concluded that
the reaction of oxyanion nucleophiles with p-nitrophenyl
acetate occurs by a concerted mechanism. These authors
also suggested that the pKa of the oxyanion nucleophiles
Resu lts
The hydrolysis of substrates 1-5 was measured as a
function of pH in the range 5.00-9.91 (Tables
S1-S3).11,8 At each pH, at least five buffer concentra-
tions were used and the rate increased linearly with
buffer concentration in all cases. The observed pseudo-
(1) Mender, M. L. Chem. Rev. 1960, 60, 53. J ohnson, S. L. Adv. Phys.
Org. Chem. 1967, 5, 237. J encks, W. P. Chem. Rev. 1972, 72, 705.
(2) Ba-Saif, S.; Luthra, A. K; Williams, A. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1989,
111, 2647.
(3) Guthrie, J . P. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 3941.
(4) Stefanidis, D.; Cho, S.; Dhe-Pagamon, S.; J encks, W. P. J . Am.
Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 1650-1656.
(8) Ferna´ndez, M. A.; de Rossi, R. H. J . Org. Chem. 1997, 62, 7554.
(9) Manion Schilling, M. L.; Roth, H. D.; Herndon, W. C. J . Am.
Chem. Soc. 1980, 102, 4272.
(10) Fernandez, M. A.; de Rossi, R. H. 14th International Conference
on Physical Organic Chemistry, 4th Latin American Conference on
Physical Organic Chemistry, Florianopolis, Brazil, 1998, p 105.
(11) Supporting Information.
(5) Buncel, E.; Um, I. H.; Hoz, S. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, 111, 971-
975.
(6) Kwon, D.-S.; Lee, G.-J .; Um, I. H. Bull Korean Chem. Soc. 1990,
11, 262-265.
(7) Hengge, A. C.; Hess, R. A. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1994, 116, 11256.
10.1021/jo990550j CCC: $18.00 © 1999 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 07/14/1999