Kinetics and Mechanism of the Pyridinolysis of Dimethyl Isothiocyanophosphate in Acetonitrile

摘要

The kinetics and mechanism of the pyridinolysis (XC5H4N) of dimethyl isothiocyanophosphate are investigated in acetonitrile at 55.0 °C. The Hammett and Bronsted plots for substituent X variations in the nucleophiles exhibit two discrete slopes with a break region between X = 3-Ac and 4-Ac. These are interpreted to indicate a mechanistic change at the break region from a concerted to a stepwise mechanism with a rate-limiting expulsion of the isothiocyanate leaving group from the intermediate. The relatively large β_x values imply much greater fraction of frontside nucleophilic attack TSf than that of backside attack TSb. The steric effects of the two ligands play an important role to determine the pyridinolysis rates of isothiocyanophosphates.