Kinetics and mechanism of the anilinolysis of aryl ethyl isothiocyanophosphates in acetonitrile

Abstract

The nucleophilic substitution reactions of Y-aryl ethyl isothiocyanophosphates with substituted X-anilines and deuterated X-anilines were investigated kinetically in acetonitrile at 75.0 oC. The free energy relationships with X in the nucleophiles exhibited biphasic concave downwards with a break point at X = H. A stepwise mechanism with rate-limiting bond formation for strongly basic anilines and with rate-limiting bond breaking for weakly basic anilines is proposed based on the negative and positive ?XY values, respectively. The deuterium kinetic isotope effects (DKIEs; kH/kD) changed gradually from primary normal with strongly basic anilines, via primary normal and secondary inverse with aniline, to secondary inverse with weakly basic anilines. The primary normal and secondary inverse DKIEs were rationalized by frontside attack involving hydrogen bonded, four-center-type TSf and backside attack involving in-line-type TSb, respectively.