Ionizing power

Table 4.11 lists the Y values for some alcohol-water mixtures and for some other solvents. The Y value reflects primarily the ionization power of the solvent. It is largest for polar... 

A scale for solvent ionizing power, K+, applicable in solvolysis reactions of cationic substrates, has been developed. For example,... 

The numerical values of F+ are found to be related to Y, the measure of solvent ionizing power for neutral substrates, by the equation... 

Application of Hammond s postulate indicates that the transition state should resemble the product of the first step, the carbocation intermediate. Ionization is facilitated by factors that either lower the energy of the carbocation or raise the energy of the reactant. The rate of ionization depends primarily on how reactant structure and solvent ionizing power affect these energies. 

The ionization eonstant should be a function of the intrinsic heterolytic ability (e.g., intrinsic acidity if the solute is an acid HX) and the ionizing power of the solvents, whereas the dissoeiation constant should be primarily determined by the dissociating power of the solvent. Therefore, Ad is expeeted to be under the eontrol of e, the dieleetrie eonstant. As a consequenee, ion pairs are not deteetable in high-e solvents like water, which is why the terms ionization constant and dissociation constant are often used interchangeably. In low-e solvents, however, dissociation constants are very small and ion pairs (and higher aggregates) become important species. For example, in ethylene chloride (e = 10.23), the dissociation constants of substituted phenyltrimethylammonium perchlorate salts are of the order 10 . Overall dissociation constants, expressed as pArx = — log Arx, for some substanees in aeetie acid (e = 6.19) are perchloric acid, 4.87 sulfuric acid, 7.24 sodium acetate, 6.68 sodium perchlorate, 5.48. Aeid-base equilibria in aeetie acid have been earefully studied beeause of the analytical importance of this solvent in titrimetry. 

Now, it can be postulated that solvolysis rate should be a function of two properties of the solvent one is its ionizing power, and the other is its nucleo-philicity. An SnI process should be promoted by high ionizing power, and an Sn2 process by high solvent nucleophilicity. At this point, we are ready to bring the extrathermodynamic approach to bear on this problem. This was initiated by Grun-wald and Winstein, who defined a solvent ionizing power parameter Y by... 

Table 8-12. The Solvent Ionizing Power Measure for Aqueous Mixed Solvents at 25°C...

If Y is to be a valid measure of solvent ionizing power, presumably the defining reaction should proceed via the Lim (pure SnI) process. This was the basis for the original choice of r-butyl chloride. It is now believed that /-butyl chloride sol-volyzes with some solvent participation, and modern versions of Y are based on other compounds, of which 2-adamantyl tosylate (p-toluenesulfonate, OTs), 6, is the most favored." ... 

Our next concern is the solvent nucleophilicity. Schadt et al. " chose the solvolysis of methyl tosylate, which should be an Sn2 process, as the defining process. For this standard reaction the parameter / in Eq. (8-69) was set at 1.00. An empirical estimate of m, describing the sensitivity of methyl tosylate to solvent ionizing power, was obtained as the slope of the two-point line for methyl tosylate solvolysis in... 

Table 8-13. Solvent Ionizing Power (Yor,) and Nucleophilicity (Non) Based...

The S02 eliminations follow first-order rates and were found to correlate surprisingly well with the ionizing power of the medium. Also, the rates are base-accelerated, albeit the effect is rather small99. 

Ideally, Y should measure only the ionizing power of the solvent, and should not reflect any backside attack by a solvent molecule in helping the nucleofuge to leave (nucleophilic assistance k, p. 411). Actually, there is evidence that many solvents... 

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