Phenylazoresorcinols, proton removal

Results which have an important bearing on the mechanism of proton removal from intramolecular hydrogen bonds have been obtained quite recently for the second ionisation of phenylazoresorcinols (73). Kinetic measurements were made using the temperature-jump technique (Perlmutter-Hayman and Shinar, 1975 Perlmutter-Hayman et al., 1976). 

The conclusions reached about proton transfer from phenylazoresorcinol monoanions are quite different from the behaviour which has been described for other hydrogen-bonded acids. For phenylazoresorcinol monoanions, it appears that direct attack by base on the hydrogen-bonded proton is an important process and can compete with two-step proton removal. For two-step proton transfer through an open form of the phenylazoresorcinol monoanion it is found that the rate of proton transfer from the open form is... 

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