Stability rates propylene glycol production

A summary of bimolecular rate constants for the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of a series of alkyl-, vinyl- and phenyl-substituted epoxides is given in Table 1. Propylene oxide (7) is 6.6 times more reactive than ethylene oxide, and from a study of its reaction in H2018, it was shown that 70% of the glycol product results from addition of solvent to the secondary carbon and 30% from addition of solvent to the primary carbon. The reactivity per primary carbon of ethylene oxide is one-half of the observed reactivity of ethylene oxide, and thus the introduction of a methyl group on ethylene oxide results in an increase in reactivity at the primary carbon by a factor of 4 and an increase in reactivity at the secondary carbon by a factor of 9. These results are consistent with A-2 mechanisms for the acid-catalyzed hydrolyses of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, in which some amount of positive charge generated on carbon at the transition state is stabilized by a methyl group. 

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