Hydrolytic Reactions of Phosphoric and Thiophosphoric Acid Esters

13 4 Hydrolytic Reactions of Phosphoric and Thiophosphoric Acid Esters 

As for other esters, hydrolysis of phosphoric and thiophosphoric acid triester occurs via acid-catalyzed, base-catalyzed, and neutral mechanisms (Table 13.12). We note that in the following discussion we are concerned primarily with acid triesters, although the hydrolysis products of these compounds, that is, the di- and monoesters, are also of environmental concern inasmuch as they usually seem to react at slower rates as compared to the triesters (Mabey and Mill, 1978 Wolfe, 1980). 

When trying to understand the reactivity of phosphate and thiophosphate esters, it is important to realize that such compounds may react like alkyl halides by nucleo- 

Note that the reaction at the phosphorus atom is postulated to occur by an SN2 (no intermediate formed) rather than by an addition mechanism such as we encountered with carboxylic acid derivatives (Kirby and Warren, 1967). As we learned in Section 13.2, for attack at a saturated carbon atom, OH- is a better nucleophile than H20 by about a factor of 104 (Table 13.2). Toward phosphorus, which is a harder electrophilic center (see Box 13.1), however, the relative nucleophilicity increases dramatically. For triphenyl phosphate, for example, OH- is about 108 times stronger than H20 as a nucleophile (Barnard et al., 1961). Note that in the case of triphenyl phosphate, no substitution may occur at the carbon bound to the oxygen of the alcohol moiety, and therefore, neutral hydrolysis is much less important as compared to the other cases (see /NB values in Table 13.12). Consequently, the base-catalyzed reaction generally occurs at the phosphorus atom leading to the dissociation of the alcohol moiety that is the best leaving group (P-0 cleavage), as is illustrated by the reaction of parathion with OH  

Depending on the alcohol moieties present (i.e., quality of leaving group(s), presence of an aliphatic alcohol moiety), the neutral reaction as well as reactions with soft nucleophiles (e.g. HS-, CN, see Box 13.1) may also proceed by nucleophilic substitution at a carbon atom (C-0 cleavage). This is the case for trialkyl phosphates such as trimethyl and triethyl phosphate  

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