General base catalysis vs. medium effects in the hydrolysis of an RNA modelElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: tables of primary kinetic data and derived rate constants. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/p2/b1/b109325h/

Author(s):  
Anthony J. Kirby ◽  
Robert E. Marriott
1982 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1357 ◽  
Author(s):  
TJ Broxton

The hydrolysis of 2-acetyloxybenzoic acid in the pH range 6-12 has been studied in the presence of micelles of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (ctab) and cetylpyridinium chloride (cpc). In the plateau region (pH 6-8) the hydrolysis is inhibited by the presence of micelles, while in the region where the normal BAC2 hydrolysis (pH > 9) occurs the reaction is catalysed by micelles of ctab and cpc. The mechanism of hydrolysis in the plateau region is shown to involve general base catalysis by the adjacent ionized carboxy group both in the presence and absence of micelles. This reaction is inhibited in the presence of micelles because the substrate molecules are solubilized into the micelle and water is less available in this environment than in normal aqueous solution.


Author(s):  
Ik-Hwan Um ◽  
Seungjae Kim

Second-order rate constants (kN) for reactions of p-nitrophenyl acetate (1) and S-p-nitrophenyl thioacetate (2) with OH‒ have been measured spectrophotometrically in DMSO-H2O mixtures of varying compositions at 25.0 ± 0.1 oC. The kN value increases from 11.6 to 32,800 M‒1s‒1 for the reactions of 1 and from 5.90 to 190,000 M‒1s‒1 for those of 2 as the reaction medium changes from H2O to 80 mol % DMSO, indicating that the effect of medium on reactivity is more remarkable for the reactions of 2 than for those of 1. Although 2 possesses a better leaving group than 1, the former is less reactive than the latter by a factor of 2 in H2O. This implies that expulsion of the leaving group is not advanced in the rate-determining transition state (TS), i.e., the reactions of 1 and 2 with OH‒ proceed through a stepwise mechanism, in which expulsion of the leaving group from the addition intermediate occurs after the rate-determining step (RDS). Addition of DMSO to H2O would destabilize OH‒ through electronic repulsion between the anion and the negative-dipole end in DMSO. However, destabilization of OH‒ in the ground state (GS) is not solely responsible for the remarkably enhanced reactivity upon addition of DMSO to the medium. The effect of medium on reactivity has been dissected into the GS and TS contributions through combination of the kinetic data with the transfer enthalpies (ΔΔHtr) from H2O to DMSO-H2O mixtures for OH‒ ion.


2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (9) ◽  
pp. 1483-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Humeres ◽  
Maria de Nazaré M. Sanchez ◽  
Conceição ML Lobato ◽  
Nito A Debacher ◽  
Eduardo P. de Souza

The hydrolysis of ethyl N-ethylthioncarbamate (ETE) at 100 °C was studied in the range of 7 mol/L HCl to 4 mol/L NaOH. The pH–rate profile showed that the hydrolysis occurred through specific acid catalysis at pH < 2, spontaneous hydrolysis at pH 2–6.5, and specific basic catalysis at pH > 6.5. The Hammett acidity plot and the excess acidity plot against X were linear. The Bunnett–Olsen plot gave a negative slope indicating that the conjugate acid was less hydrated than the neutral substrate. It was concluded that the acid hydrolysis occurred by an A1 mechanism. The neutral species hydrolyzed with general base catalysis shown by the Brønsted plot with β = 0.48 ± 0.04. Water acted as a general base catalyst with (pseudo-)first-order rate constant, kN = 3.06 × 10–7 s–1. At pH > 6.5 the rate constants increased, reaching a plateau at high basicity. The basic hydrolysis rate constant of ethyl N,N-diethylthioncarbamate, which must react by a BAc2 mechanism, increased linearly at 1–3 mol/L NaOH with a second-order rate constant, k2 = 2.3 × 10–4 (mol/L)–1 s–1, which was 10 times slower than that expected for ETE. Experiments of ETE in 0.6 mol/L NaOH with an excess of ethylamine led to the formation of diethyl thiourea, presenting strong evidence that the basic hydrolysis occurred by the E1cb mechanism. In the rate-determining step, the E1cb mechanism involved the elimination of ethoxide ion from the thioncarbamate anion, producing an isothiocyanate intermediate that decomposed rapidly to form ethylamine, ethanol, and COS.Key words: alkylthioncarbamate esters, ethyl N-ethylthioncarbamate, ethyl N,N-diethylthioncarbamate, hydrolysis, mechanism.


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