Diffusion-based rate determination

Other studies of rate and equilibrium constants of the formation and breakdown of hemithioacetals (MeCHO+PhSH, or AcSH, or p-NOaQ-H4SH) reveal a diffusion-controlled rate-determining step, with proton transfer in some sense concerted with cleavage and formation of the C—S bond. A general base-catalysed mechanism involves attack of the RS anion on the carbonyl group. ... 

Diffusion-limited rate control at high basicity may set in. This is more eommonly seen in a true Br nsted plot. If the rate-determining step is a proton transfer, and if this is diffusion controlled, then variation in base strength will not affect the rate of reaction. Thus, 3 may be zero at high basicity, whereas at low basicity a dependence on pK may be seen. ° Yang and Jencks ° show an example in the nucleophilic attack of aniline on methyl formate catalyzed by oxygen bases. 

Calderbank et al. (C6) studied the Fischer-Tropsch reaction in slurry reactors of 2- and 10-in. diameters, at pressures of 11 and 22 atm, and at a temperature of 265°C. It was assumed that the liquid-film diffusion of hydrogen from the gas-liquid interface is a rate-determining step, whereas the mass transfer of hydrogen from the bulk liquid to the catalyst was believed to be rapid because of the high ratio between catalyst exterior surface area and bubble surface area. The experimental data were not in complete agreement with a theoretical model based on these assumptions. 

The differences in rate for the two positions of naphthalene show clearly that an additional-elimination mechanism may be ruled out. On the other hand, the magnitude of the above isotope effect is smaller than would be expected for a reaction involving rate-determining abstraction of hydrogen, so a mechanism involving significant internal return had been proposed, equilibria (239) and (240), p. 266. In this base-catalysed (B-SE2) reaction both k and k 2 must be fast in view of the reaction path symmetry. If diffusion away of the labelled solvent molecule BH is not rapid compared with the return reaction kLt a considerable fraction of ArLi reacts with BH rather than BH, the former possibility leading to no nett isotope effect. Since the diffusion process is unlikely to have an isotope effect then the overall observed effect will be less than that for the step k. ... 

Rate of Formation of Primary Precursors. A steady state radical balance was used to calculate the concentration of the copolymer oligomer radicals in the aqueous phase. This balance equated the radical generation rate with the sum of the rates of radical termination and of radical entry into the particles and precursors. The calculation of the entry rate coefficients was based on the hypothesis that radical entry is governed by mass transfer through a surface film in parallel with bulk diffusion/electrostatic attraction/repulsion of an oligomer with a latex particle but in series with a limiting rate determining step (Richards, J. R. et al. J. AppI. Polv. Sci.. in press). Initiator efficiency was... 

Hydrolysis. NMR results show that TBT carboxylates undergo fast chemical exchange. Even the interfacial reaction between TBT carboxylates and chloride is shown to be extremely fast. The hydrolysis is thus not likely to be a rate determining step. Since the diffusivity of water in the matrix is expected to be much greater than that of TBTO, a hydrolytic equilibrium between the tributyltin carboxylate polymer and TBTO will always exist. As the mobile species produced diffuses out, the hydrolysis proceeds at a concentration-dependent rate. Godbee and Joy have developed a model to describe a similar situation in predicting the leacha-bility of radionuclides from cementitious grouts (15). Based on their equation, the rate of release of tin from the surface is ... 

In many reactions, transfer of the anion across the interface and subsequent diffusion into the bulk of the organic phase will not be the rate-determining step when lipophilic catalysts are used, but the effect of less lipophilic catalysts may be influenced more by the anion and the mechanism of the transfer process. Thus, for example, the reactive anion is frequently produced in base-initiated reactions by proton extraction from the substrate at the two-phase interface and diffusion of the ion-pair contributes to the overall kinetics of the reaction. Additionally, the reactivity of the anion depends on its degree of hydration and on its association with the quaternary ammonium cation. In most situations, the activity of the transferred anion is enhanced, compared with its reactivity in aqueous media, as its degree of hydration is reduced, whereas a relatively weak electrostatic interaction between the two ions resulting from the bulkiness of the cation enhances the reactivity of the anion by making it more available for reaction and will be a major factor in the ratedetermining step. 

Now, to explain the operation of the PFIEBR, it is proposed that the interdiffusion in the adhering liquid thin layer is the rate-determining step, then, it is possible to consider that n = 1 in Equation 7.33, since for this transport process the diffusion rate, k, is proportional to concentration [38], This approach is based on the assumption that states that the rate-determining process during the dynamic ionic exchange in zeolite columns determines the diffusion in the zeolite secondary porosity, that is, the transport process in the macro- and mesoporosities formed by the matrix inserted between zeolite crystals and the diffusion in the zeolite primary porosity, that is, in the cavities and channels which constitute the zeolite framework [38], This fact is experimentally justified later. With the help of Equations 7.33 through 7.35, we obtain ... 

Eigen (1964) found that a plot of ApR against the rate constant for proton transfer between acetylacetone and a series of bases gave a curved plot. It should be noted, however, that Eigen s explanation for curvature is quite different from the one based on Marcus theory and the reactivity-selectivity principle. The curvature discussed by Eigen is attributed to a change from a rate-determining proton transfer to a diffusion controlled reaction which is independent of the catalyst p. 

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