Bac2 pathway

The p value for base-catalysed hydrolysis (+2-51) is +ve and quite large, reflecting the development of not inconsiderable -ve charge at the reaction centre in the rate-limiting step—attack on this centre by OH (step CD in the BAC2 pathway). By contrast, the p value for acid-catalysed hydrolysis (+0-03) is very nearly zero which means, of course, that the rate of this hydrolysis does not vary significantly from one ester to another, no matter what the m- or... 

Bac2 pathway, 239, 384 Baeyer-Villiger oxidation, 127 Barton reaction, 337 Base catalysis general, 75... 

If we now extend our consideration of base-catalysed (BAC2), and acid-catalysed (Aac2), hydrolysis to esters in general, including aliphatic ones (RC02Et), we see that there is a close similarity between the transition states (42b or 42a) for the rate-limiting step in each of the two pathways they are both tetrahedral and differ... 

At a high temperature, it is known that the lack of solvation may favor a Bai2 mechanism with respect a Bac2 one. In the case of DMC-mediated methyla-tions, both reaction pathways occur in a definite sequence, which accounts for the high monomethyl selectivity observed in these reactions. 

A dissociative elimination-addition pathway has also been proposed to account for the kinetics of alkaline hydrolysis of 2,4-dinitrophenyl 4 -hydroxyphenylpropionitrile in 40% (v/v) dioxane-water, although participation of the associative Bac2 mechanism cannot be ruled out since it may be facilitated by the electronic effect of the triple bond. Formation of intermediate (15), having a conjugated and cumulated double-bond system, should favour the ElcB mechanism and thereby account for the contrasting entropies of activation found for hydrolysis of (14) and the corresponding 4 -methoxyphenylpropionate. 

That a single solvent molecule clustered to a nucleophile can drastically change the reaction pathway has been demonstrated by studying the reaction of phenyl acetate with methoxide ion in the gas phase [671, 672]. Alkaline hydrolysis of esters in solution is known to proceed by attack of the nucleophile at the carbonyl carbon atom to form a tetrahedral intermediate, followed by cleavage of the acyl-oxygen bond (Bac2 mechanism) cf. Eq. (5-138a). 

The two most important pathways that occur in practice are the AAc2 and the BAc2, both of which proceed via a tetrahedral intermediate. Write down these two pathways, paying particular attention to the nature of the attacking species and the protonation and deprotonation steps. 

In summary, the AAc2 mechanism is the commonest under acid conditions, with AAL1 occurring when R is able to form a stable carbonium ion while under basic conditions BAc2 operates in almost all cases. The other pathways only occur, if at all, in limited circumstances. 

Tertiary benzoyloxymethylsulfonamides (17) undergo hydrolysis via pH-independent and acid- and base-catalysed processes. Reactions are also buffer catalysed for buffer species with pXa values > 10.5. For the pH-independent pathway, hydrolysis takes place via formation of an Al-sulfonyliminium ion (Scheme 2). The mechanism of the acid-catalysed process involves pre-equilibrium protonation of the substrate followed by iminium ion formation. The base-catalysed pathway involves the normal Bac2 mechanism of ester hydrolysis. The buffer-catalysed reaction gives rise to a curved Brpnsted plot, with values of 1.6 and 0.25 for nucleophiles with pXa values <12.5 and >13, respectively. This is indicative of nucleophilic catalysis associated with a change in rate-limiting step from formation of the tetrahedral intermediate for buffer species with pXa > 13 to decomposition of the tetrahedral intermediate for buffer species with pXa < 12.5. ... 

---