Structure-Reactivity Relationships for Substituted Benzenes

Electrophilic aromatic substitution is a situation in which it is useful to discuss TS structure in terms of a reaction intermediate. The ortho, para, and meta directing effects of aromatic substituents were among the first structure-reactivity relationships to be developed in organic chemistry. Certain functional groups activate aromatic rings toward substitution and direct the entering electrophile to the ortho and para positions, whereas others are deactivating and lead to substitution in the meta position. The bromination of methoxybenzene (anisole), benzene, and nitrobenzene can serve as examples for discussion. 

The introduction of a substituent in an organic compound may affect its reactivity in a given reaction. A number of quantitative relationships have been suggested in connection with the effect of substituents on the rate constant of the reaction. Such structure-reactivity co-relations are helpful in predicting the reactivity of organic compounds in various reactions and also in verifying the reaction mechanism. One such useful relationship was proposed by Hemmett, which relates the equilibrium and rate constants for the reaction of meta and para substituted benzene derivatives. 

Among benzene derivatives, halogen-substituted compounds have been extensively studied and in the structure-reactivity studies " carried out on the reaction of OH and SO with the ortho and meta isomers of dichloro and dibromobenzenes and mono-bromotoluenes, the formation of substituted hydroxycyclohexadienyl radical was observed to be the major reaction channel. The bimolecular rate constants obtained for the reaction of OH with substituted halobenzenes are in the range (1.7 to 9.3) x 10 dm mol s. The rate constants obtained are found to follow the Hammett relationship for the reaction of OH with substituted halobenzenes and the p was found to be -0.5, indicating that OH radicals react by addition to the benzene ting. 

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