Hammett-type reactivity constants

There are numerous other transmission mechanisms for substituent effects. Those connected with unsaturated frameworks, such as mesomeric effects and correlations with it charge densities and Hammett-type reactivity constants, and intramolecular hydrogen-bonding effects are beyond the scope of this article and are discussed elsewhere (1,8,25,57). 

When one compares the brutto polymerization rate constants, a measure of the reactivity of monomers during cationic homopolymerizations is obtained. It was found for p-substituted styrenes that lg kBr increased parallel to the reactivity, which the monomers show versus a constant acceptor 93). The reactivity graduation of the cationic chain ends is apparently overcomed by the structural influence on the monomers during the entire process of the cationic polymerization. The quantitative treatment of the substituent influences with the assistance of the LFE principle leads to the following Hammett-type equations for the brutto polymerization rate constants ... 

The various factors that influence reactivity in these types of molecules are clearly illustrated in a study193 of their reactions with methyl iodide and p-nitrophenyl acetate, giving rise in certain cases to deviations from Hammett-type plots. Thus, rates for isoquinoline, pyrimidine, and pyridazine fit reasonably well on to the pK — log Krci (Mel) plot (Fig. 3) and thus conform to the Hammett reaction constant... 

There are principally two different approaches of correlating experimental rate data of electrophilic substitution with reactivity indices (1) Correlating the index with the rate data of a given reaction, e.g. bromination. For example, a satisfying correlation of Dewar reactivity numbers with the log of rate constants of the bromination of benzene, naphthalene (1- and 2-position), biphenyl (4-position), phenanthrene (9-position), and anthracene (9-position) has been observed [55]. In correlations of this type the reactivity index corresponds to the reactivity constant in the Hammett equation while the slope of the linear correlation corresponds to the reaction constant (see also Sect. 3) (2) correlating the index with experimental a values. 

For the quantitative treatment of substituent effects in such reactions, Brown proposed (Brown and Okamoto, 1957) a new Hammett-type structure-reactivity relationship, the Brown equation (1), in terms of substituent constant instead of a in the original Hammett equation. 

When defining the a values as a measure of inductive effects, the choice in reactivity types is such that specific steric, resonance and other effects are apparently constant and a linear free energy relationship of the Hammett type holds. 

Many other substituent parameters have been developed to improve correlations for specific types of reactions. Brown and Okamoto (1958) developed substituent constants (electrophilic reactions based on hydrolysis rates of meta- and para-substituted 2-chloro-2-phenylpropanes (CPP), which react by electrophilic carbonium ion intermediates. Formation of these intermediates is facilitated by high electron density at the reactive carbon (i.e., by meta- or para-electron donors). The parameter meta substituents), k0 is the hydrolysis rate constant for unsubstituted CPP, and k is the rate constant for a substituted CPP. 

The effects of solvent on the reactivity of the solvated electron have been discussed. The rates of reaction of e jj with various compounds have been measured in liquid 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, and a comparison with data in other solvents suggests that neither a Hammett-type correlation of rate constants with substituent constants, a, nor the correlation with electron absorption coefficients in the gas phase can be used to describe the reactivity of these solutes towards the electron in solution. 

The fundamental understanding of the diazonio group in arenediazonium salts, and of its reactivity, electronic structure, and influence on the reactivity of other substituents attached to the arenediazonium system depends mainly on the application of quantitative structure-reactivity relationships to kinetic and equilibrium measurements. These were made with a series of 3- and 4-substituted benzenediazonium salts on the basis of the Hammett equation (Scheme 7-1). We need to discuss the mechanism of addition of a nucleophile to the P-nitrogen atom of an arenediazonium ion, and to answer the question, raised several times in Chapters 5 and 6, why the ratio of (Z)- to ( -additions is so different — from almost 100 1 to 1 100 — depending on the type of nucleophile involved and on the reaction conditions. However, before we do that in Section 7.4, it is necessary to give a short general review of the Hammett equation and to discuss the substituent constants of the diazonio group. 

Waters61 have measured relative rates of p-toluenesulfonyl radical addition to substituted styrenes, deducing from the value of p + = — 0.50 in the Hammett plot that the sulfonyl radical has an electrophilic character (equation 21). Further indications that sulfonyl radicals are strongly electrophilic have been obtained by Takahara and coworkers62, who measured relative reactivities for the addition reactions of benzenesulfonyl radicals to various vinyl monomers and plotted rate constants versus Hammett s Alfrey-Price s e values these relative rates are spread over a wide range, for example, acrylonitrile (0.006), methyl methacrylate (0.08), styrene (1.00) and a-methylstyrene (3.21). The relative rates for the addition reaction of p-methylstyrene to styrene towards methane- and p-substituted benzenesulfonyl radicals are almost the same in accord with their type structure discussed earlier in this chapter. 

Clearly there was a need for a more general model of electrical effects. Like the case of the Hammett equation the use of the LD equation for the description of chemical reactivities required either an a priori knowledge of the type of substituent constant required or a comparison of the results obtained using each of the available electronically deficient active sites. 

The polar effect was at first invoked to explain various directive effects observed in aliphatic systems. Methyl radicals attack propionic acid preferentially at the a-position, ka/kp = 7.8 (per hydrogen), whereas chlorine " prefers to attack at the /3-position, ka/kp = 0.03 (per hydrogen). In an investigation of f-butyl derivatives, a semiquanti-tative relationship was observed between the relative reactivity and the polar effect of the substituents, as evidenced by the pK, of the corresponding acid. In the case of meta- and / ara-substituted toluenes, it has been observed that a very small directive effect exists for some atoms or radicals. When treated by the Hammett relation it is observed that p = —0.1 for H , CeHs , P-CH3C6H4 and CHs . On the contrary, numerous radicals with an appreciable electron affinity show a pronounced polar effect in the reaction with the toluenes. Compilation of Hammett reaction constants and the type of substituent... 

Because of the bulk of comparable material available, it has been possible to use half-wave potentials for some types of linear free energy relationships that have not been used in connection with rate and equilibrium constants. For example, it has been shown (7, 777) that the effects of substituents on quinone rings on their reactivity towards oxidation-reduction reactions, can be approximately expressed by Hammett substituent constants a. The susceptibility of the reactivity of a cyclic system to substitution in various positions can be expressed quantitatively (7). The numbers on formulae XIII—XV give the reaction constants Qn, r for the given position (values in brackets only very approximate) ... 

Cyclotrimerization of polyfunctional aryl acetylenes offers a unique route to a class of highly aromatic polymers of potential value to the micro-electronics industry. These polymers have high thermal stability and improved melt planarization as well as decreased water absorption and dielectric constant, relative to polyimides. Copolymerization of two or more monomers is often necessary to achieve the proper combination of polymer properties. Use of this type of condensation polymerization reaction with monomers of different reactivity can lead to a heterogeneous polymer. Accordingly, the relative rates of cyclotrimerization of six para-substituted aryl acetylenes were determined. These relative rates were found to closely follow both the Hammett values and the spectroscopic constants A h and AfiCp for the para substituents. With this information, production of such heterogeneous materials can be either avoided or controlled. 

The study of structure-reactivity relationships by the organic chemist Hammett showed that there is often a quantitative relationship between the two-dimensional structure of organic molecules and their chemical reactivity. Specifically, he correlated the changes in chemical properties of a molecule that result from a small change in its chemical structure that is, the quantitative linear relationship between electron density at a certain part of a molecule and its tendency to undergo reactions of various types at that site. For example, there is a linear relationship between the effea of remote substituents on the equilibrium constant for the ionization of an acid with the effect of these substituents on the rate or equilibrium constant for many other types of chemical reaction. The relative value of Hammett substituent constants describes the similarity of molecules in terms of electronic properties. Taft expanded the method to include the steric hindrance of access of reagents to the reaction site by nearby substituents, a quantitation of three-dimensional similarity. In addition, Charton, Verloop, Austel, and others extended and refined these ideas. Finally, Hansch and Fujita showed that biological activity frequently is also quantitatively correlated with the hydrophobic character of the substituents. They coined the term QSAR, Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships, for this type of analysis. 

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