摘要:
Second-order rate constants have been measured (aqueous solution, I = 1.0, 25-degrees-C) for the hydroxide ion catalyzed elimination reactions of 12 N-(2-(4-nitrophenyl)ethyl)pyridinium cations (3) bearing a variety of substituents in the pyridine ring. Bronsted plots as a function of the basicity of the pyridine leaving group are concave-down, which is consistent with a change in rate-determining step within an E1cB mechanism. These plots are characterized by beta-lg = -0.17 for the rate-determining deprotonation for pK(BH) < 6.5, and beta-lg = -0.39 for the rate-determining expulsion of the pyridine nucleofuge from the carbanionic intermediate for pK(BH) > 6.5. Elimination reactions in basic D2O occur without any significant incorporation of deuterium into the 4-nitrostyrene product, and require the presence of a hydrogen-bonded carbanionic intermediate in which nucleofuge expulsion occurs faster than exchange of hydrogen-bonding water molecules. Rate-determining deprotonation in these elimination reactions occurs 50-fold more slowly than for the corresponding reactions of the N-[2-(4-nitrophenyl)ethyl]quinuclidinium cations that have also been reported to have beta-lg = -0.17, but which do not show an analogous change in the rate-determining step upon variation of the nucleofuge basicity. The analogous elimination of the 1-methyl-3-[2-(4-nitrophenyl)ethyl]imidazolium cation occurs a further 30-fold more slowly than that predicted for 3 having a pyridine leaving group of the same basicity as 1-methylimidazole. The E1cB reactions of 3 are similar to the analogous reactions of N-(2-cyanoethyl)pyridinium cations (1) in displaying a change in the rate-determining step with nucleofuge basicity; however, the beta-lg values for 1 and 3 are quite different for both k1 and k2/k-1.