Alkyl bromides, solvolysis rates

The real world of Sn reactions is not quite as simple as the discussion has so far suggested. The preceding treatment in terms of two clearly distinct mechanisms, SnI and Sn2, implies that all substitution reactions will follow one or the other of these mechanisms. This is an oversimplification. The strength of the dual mechanism hypothesis and its limitations are revealed by these relative rates of solvolysis of alkyl bromides in 80% ethanol methyl bromide, 2.51 ethyl bromide, 1.00 isopropyl bromide, 1.70 /er/-butyl bromide, 8600. Addition of lyate ions increases the rate for the methyl, ethyl, and isopropyl bromides, whereas the tert-butyl bromide solvolysis rate is unchanged. The reaction with lyate ions is overall second-order for methyl and ethyl, first-order for tert-butyl, and first- or second-order for the isopropyl member, depending upon the concentrations. Similar results are found in other solvents. These data show that the methyl and ethyl bromides solvolyze by the Sn2 mechanism, and tert-butyl bromide by the SnI mech-... 

As a result of the inductive and hyperconjugative effects it is to be expected that tertiary carbonium ions will be more stable than secondary carbonium ions, which in turn will be more stable than primary ions. The stabilization of the corresponding transition states for ionization should be in the same order, since the transition state will somewhat resemble the ion. Thus the first order rate constant for the solvolysis of tert-buty bromide in alkaline 80% aqueous ethanol at 55° is about 4000 times that of isopropyl bromide, while for ethyl and methyl bromides the first order contribution to the hydrolysis rate is imperceptible against the contribution from the bimolecular hydrolysis.217 Formic acid is such a good ionizing solvent that even primary alkyl bromides hydrolyze at a rate nearly independent of water concentration. The relative rates at 100° are tertiary butyl, 108 isopropyl, 44.7 ethyl, 1.71 and methyl, 1.00.218>212 One a-phenyl substituent is about as effective in accelerating the ionization as two a-alkyl groups.212 Thus the reactions of benzyl compounds, like those of secondary alkyl compounds, are of borderline mechanism, while benzhydryl compounds react by the unimolecular ionization mechanism. 

As indicated in Table 16, the amino substituted adamantyl bromide solvoly-ses are significantly enhanced relative to the corresponding alkyl substituted adamantyl bromides. The effect is even more dramatic when one recalls that the crj substituent paramter for -N (CH3)2 and -C6H5 are nearly identical 304 The solvolysis rate of 3-phenyl-l-bromoadamantane 2981 is nearly 104 times slower than that of 3-dimethylamino-l-bromoadamantane 303) at 50 °C, however. 

Traditionally, relative stabilities of carbocations have been derived from the comparison of the rates of solvolysis reactions following the SN1 mechanism, for which the designation Dm + An has recently been proposed [36], The comparison of solvolytic rate constants for substrates of a large structural variety is hampered by the fact that the published solvolysis rates refer to different solvents, different temperatures, and precursors with different leaving groups. Dau-Schmidt has, therefore, converted solvolysis rates of a manifold of alkyl chlorides and bromides to standard conditions, i.e., soiv of RC1 in 100% EtOH at 25° C (Scheme 6) [37]. Although from a theoretical point of view, ethanol is not an ideal solvent for observing unassisted SN 1-type reactions (nucleophilic solvent participation), it has been selected as the reference solvent because most available experimental data have been collected in solvents of comparable nucleophilicity, a fact which made conversions to 100% ethanol relatively unproblematic [38],... 

In most SnI reactions, the solvent is the nucleophile. For example, the relative rates given in Table 10.4 are for the reactions of alkyl halides with water in water. Water serves as both the nucleophile and the solvent. Reaction with a solvent is called solvolysis. Thus, each rate in Table 10.4 is for the solvolysis of the indicated alkyl bromide in water. 

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