Pyridines—continued substituent effects

The Yukawa-Tsuno equation continues to find considerable application. 1-Arylethyl bromides react with pyridine in acetonitrile by unimolecular and bimolecular processes.These processes are distinct there is no intermediate mechanism. The SnI rate constants, k, for meta or j ara-substituted 1-arylethyl bromides conform well to the Yukawa-Tsuno equation, with p = — 5.0 and r = 1.15, but the correlation analysis of the 5 n2 rate constants k2 is more complicated. This is attributed to a change in the balance between bond formation and cleavage in the 5 n2 transition state as the substituent is varied. The rate constants of solvolysis in 1 1 (v/v) aqueous ethanol of a-t-butyl-a-neopentylbenzyl and a-t-butyl-a-isopropylbenzyl p-nitrobenzoates at 75 °C follow the Yukawa-Tsuno equation well, with p = —3.37, r = 0.78 and p = —3.09, r — 0.68, respectively. The considerable reduction in r from the value of 1.00 in the defining system for the scale is ascribed to steric inhibition of coplanarity in the transition state. Rates of solvolysis (80% aqueous ethanol, 25 °C) have been measured for 1-(substituted phenyl)-l-phenyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl and l,l-bis(substi-tuted phenyl)-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl tosylates. The former substrate shows a bilinear Yukawa-Tsuno plot the latter shows excellent conformity to the Yukawa-Tsuno equation over the whole range of substituents, with p =—8.3/2 and r— 1.19. Substituent effects on solvolysis of 2-aryl-2-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl m-nitrobenzene-sulfonates in acetic acid or in 80% aqueous TFE have been analyzed by the Yukawa-Tsuno equation to give p =—3.12, r = 0.77 (130 °C) and p = —4.22, r — 0.63 (100 °C), respectively. The r values are considered to indicate an enhanced resonance effect, compared with the standard aryl-assisted solvolysis, and this is attributed to the destabilization of the transition state by the electron-withdrawing CF3 group. 

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