Specific rate constants, precision, effect

The applicability of the two-parameter equation and the constants devised by Brown to electrophilic aromatic substitutions was tested by plotting values of the partial rate factors for a reaction against the appropriate substituent constants. It was maintained that such comparisons yielded satisfactory linear correlations for the results of many electrophilic substitutions, the slopes of the correlations giving the values of the reaction constants. If the existence of linear free energy relationships in electrophilic aromatic substitutions were not in dispute, the above procedure would suffice, and the precision of the correlation would measure the usefulness of the p+cr+ equation. However, a point at issue was whether the effect of a substituent could be represented by a constant, or whether its nature depended on the specific reaction. To investigate the effect of a particular substituent in different reactions, the values for the various reactions of the logarithms of the partial rate factors for the substituent were plotted against the p+ values of the reactions. This procedure should show more readily whether the effect of a substituent depends on the reaction, in which case deviations from a hnear relationship would occur. It was concluded that any variation in substituent effects was random, and not a function of electron demand by the electrophile. ... 

Eq. (1) has potential application to other types of measurements of substituent effects besides those specifically considered in this paper e.g., nmr coupling constants and shifts for other nuclei, ir and uv spectral shifts and intensities. We caution (with emphasis) in these applications the needed use of data sets of high quality, both with respect to the precision of the measurement and substituents considered (i.e., a full complement of substituent o/ and Or properties must be encompassed for a meaningful correlation to be obtained). There is, of course, no requirement that all data sets will be uniquely fitted by eq. (1) using one of the four or scales of Table V. For example, the data for the ionization of the conjugate acids of pyridine-N-oxides (30), HjO, 25° is found to fit equally well the or(ba.) or Or scales (SD=. 14 /=. 072). The data (31) for the rates of alkaline ("OMe) cleavage of ArSnMea are not fitted to acceptable precision (fs >. 23) by any of the Or parameters. This data set is nevertheless indicated... 

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