Kinetic isotope effects nucleophilic substitution

TABLE 10. The secondary alpha deuterium and secondary incoming nucleophile deuterium kinetic isotope effects found for the S 2 reactions between para-substituted anilines and benzylamines with benzyl, methyl and ethyl para-substituted benzensulfonates in ace- ... 

The nucleophile in the S.v2 reactions between benzyldimethylphenylammonium nitrate and sodium para-substituted thiophenoxides in methanol at 20 °C (equation 42) can exist as a free thiophenoxide ion or as a solvent-separated ion-pair complex (equation 43)62,63. The secondary alpha deuterium and primary leaving group nitrogen kinetic isotope effects for these Sjv2 reactions were determined to learn how a substituent on the nucleophile affects the structure of the S.v2 transition state for the free ion and ion-pair reactions64. 

An S Ar (nucleophilic substitution at aromatic carbon atom) mechanism has been proposed for these reactions. Both nonenzymatic and enzymatic reactions that proceed via this mechanism typically exhibit inverse solvent kinetic isotope effects. This observation is in agreement with the example above since the thiolate form of glutathione plays the role of the nucleophile role in dehalogenation reactions. Thus values of solvent kinetic isotope effects obtained for the C13S mutant, which catalyzes only the initial steps of these reactions, do not agree with this mechanism. Rather, the observed normal solvent isotope effect supports a mechanism in which step(s) that have either no solvent kinetic isotope effect at all, or an inverse effect, and which occur after the elimination step, are kinetically significant and diminish the observed solvent kinetic isotope effect. 

A reaction described as Sn2, abbreviation for substitution, nucleophilic (bimolecular), is a one-step process, and no intermediate is formed. This reaction involves the so-called backside attack of a nucleophile Y on an electrophilic center RX, such that the reaction center the carbon or other atom attacked by the nucleophile) undergoes inversion of stereochemical configuration. In the transition-state nucleophile and exiphile (leaving group) reside at the reaction center. Aside from stereochemical issues, other evidence can be used to identify Sn2 reactions. First, because both nucleophile and substrate are involved in the rate-determining step, the reaction is second order overall rate = k[RX][Y]. Moreover, one can use kinetic isotope effects to distinguish SnI and Sn2 cases (See Kinetic Isotope Effects). 

The results in Table 3 were explained as shown in Scheme 4. From the fact that no kinetic isotope effect was observed in the reaction of phenyl-substituted disilenes with alcohols (Table 1), it is assumed that the addition reactions of alcohols to phenyltrimethyl-disilene proceed by an initial attack of the alcoholic oxygen on silicon (nucleophilic attack at silicon), followed by fast proton transfer via a four-membered transition state. As shown in Scheme 4, the regioselectivity is explained in terms of the four-membered intermediate, where stabilization of the incipient silyl anion by the phenyl group is the major factor favoring the formation of 26 over 27. It is well known that a silyl anion is stabilized by aryl group(s)443. Thus, the product 26 predominates over 27. However, it should be mentioned that steric effects also favor attack at the less hindered SiMe2 end of the disilene, thus leading to 26. 

The competition between nucleophilic substitution and base-induced elimination in the gas phase has been studied using deuterium kinetic isotope effects (KIE).6 The overall reaction rate constants and KIE have been measured for the reactions of RC1 + CIO- (R = Me, Et, t -Pr, and r-Bu). As the extent of substitution in the alkyl chloride increases, the KIE effects become increasingly more normal. These results indicated that the E2 pathway becomes the dominant channel as the alkyl group becomes more sterically hindered. 

In contrast, reaction of electron acceptor-substituted phenols exhibits p = +1.72, indicating the development of negative charge at the phenolic oxygen in the rate-determining step for reaction of relatively acidic, weakly nucleophilic phenols with 110, and the addition of 112f exhibits a large primary deuterium kinetic isotope effect of k /kv = 5.3. This is consistent with the electrophilic addition mechanism of equation 85, in which full or partial protonation at silicon precedes nucleophilic attack. 

Much attention has been focused on defining the transition state of FTase and the structural determinants of the chemical step. For FTase, there is evidence for both an electrophilic contribution to the transition state, obtained from studies with fluoromethyl FPP analogues, and a nucleophilic contribution, obtained from the metal-substitution and pH studies [31,40,41]. These results are supported by the inability to trap a carbocation intermediate, inversion of configuration at Cl of the farnesyl group during the reaction, and an a-secondary kinetic isotope effect near unity [31,42,43]. Taken together, the available data suggest that the transition state of FTase... 

Devi-Kesavan, L.S. and Gao, J. (2003). Combined QM/MM study of the mechanism and kinetic isotope effect of the nucleophilic substitution reaction in haloalkane de-halogenase. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125 (6), 1532-1540... 

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