And primary isotope effects

A primary isotope effect /ch/ d of 6.4 (extrapolated for 35 C) is observed for the metalation and the methylation of 171b when the C-5 position is deuterated. This value is in excellent agreement with the primary isotope effect of 6.6 reported for the metalation of thiophene (392) and it confirms that the rate-determining step is the abstraction by the base of the acidic proton. 

For E2 eliminations in 2-phenylethyl systems with several different leaving groups, both the primary isotope effect and Hammett p values for the reactions are known. Deduce from these data the relationship between the location on the E2 transition state spectrum and the nature of the leaving group i.e., deduce which system has the most El-like transition state and which has the most Elcb-like. Explain your reasoning. 

A large primary isotope effect kH/kD = 3.6 had also been found earlier by Ibne-Rasa122 in the nitrosation of 2,6-dibromophenol in the 4 position which was also shown to be base-catalysed. These values are not unexpected in view of the isotope effect found with diazonium coupling which involves a similarly unreactive electrophile, so that the rate-determining transition state will be displaced well towards products. Furthermore, the intermediate will have a quinonoid structure and will, therefore, be of low energy consequently, the energy barrier for the second step of the reaction will be high. 

There is one further piece of kinetic evidence which throws light on an aspect of the benzidine rearrangement mechanism, and this is comparison of the rates of reaction of ring-deuterated substrates with the normal H compounds. If the final proton-loss from the benzene rings is in any way rate-determining then substitution of D for H would result in a primary isotope effect with kD < kH. This aspect has been examined in detail42 for two substrates, hydrazobenzene itself where second-order acid dependence is found and l,l -hydrazonaphthalene where the acid dependence is first-order. The results are given in Tables 2 and 3. 

Deuterium isotope effects have been found even where it is certain that the C—H bond does not break at all in the reaction. Such effects are called secondary isotope effectsf" the term primary isotope effect being reserved for the type discussed previously. Secondary isotope effects can be divided into a and P effects. In a P secondary isotope effect, substitution of deuterium for hydrogen p to the position of bond breaking slows the reaction. An example is solvolysis of isopropyl bromide ... 

Both schemes accommodate the kinetics, the primary isotope effect and the induction factor, which indicates that Cr(IV) is the initial stage of reduction of the oxidant. RoCek s mechanism does not accord with the solvent isotope effect of 2.5 per proton, which has just the value to be expected for acid-catalysis, for the O-H bond cleavage should be subject to a primary isotope effect of about 7. The ester mechanism is not open to this criticim. 

The first term is analogous to the rate expression for the Mn(II[) oxidation of cyclohexanol vide supra) and displays a primary isotope effect of similar magnitude (2.2 at 50 °C). The second term shows an isotope effect of 4.3 for replacement of HCO2H by DCO2H. The oxidations of malonic acid and Hg(l) ° involve [Mn(III)] /[Mn(ll)] terms and these are readily explained by the equilibrium... 

An important piece of evidence for this mechanism is the fact that a primary isotope effect is observed when the a-hydrogen is replaced by deuterium.2 The Cr(IV) that is produced in the initial step is not stable and is capable of a further oxidation. It is believed that Cr(IV) is reduced to Cr(II), which is then oxidized by Cr(VI) generating Cr(V). This mechanism accounts for the overall stoichiometry of the reaction.3... 

Because solvent viscosity experiments indicated that the rate-determining step in the PLCBc reaction was likely to be a chemical one, deuterium isotope effects were measured to probe whether proton transfer might be occurring in this step. Toward this end, the kinetic parameters for the PLCBc catalyzed hydrolysis of the soluble substrate C6PC were determined in D20, and a normal primary deuterium isotope effect of 1.9 on kcat/Km was observed for the reaction [34]. A primary isotope effect of magnitude of 1.9 is commonly seen in enzymatic reactions in which proton transfer is rate-limiting, although effects of up to 4.0 have been recorded [107-110]. 

A primary isotope effect results when the breaking of a carbon-hydrogen versus a carbon-deuterium bond is the rate-limiting step in the reaction. It is expressed simply as the ratio of rate constants, i wlky,. The full expression of k /kn measures the intrinsic primary deuterium isotope for the reaction under consideration, and its magnitude is a measure of the symmetry of the transition state, e.g., -C- H- 0-Fe+3 the more symmetrical the transition state, the larger the primary isotope effect. The theoretical maximum for a primary deuterium isotope effect at 37°C is 9. The less symmetrical the transition state, the more product-like or the more substrate-like the smaller the intrinsic isotope effect will be. 

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