Reinterpretation of Curved Hammett Plots in Reaction of Nucleophiles with Aryl Benzoates: Change in Rate-Determining Step or Mechanism versus Ground-State Stabilization

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Abstract
A kinetic study is reported for the reaction of the anionic nucleophiles OH-, CN-, and N3- with aryl benzoates containing substituents on the benzoyl as well as the aryloxy moiety, in 80 mol % H2O−20 mol % dimethyl sulfoxide at 25.0 °C. Hammett log k vs σ plots for these systems are consistently nonlinear. However, a possible traditional explanation in terms of a mechanism involving a tetrahedral intermediate with curvature resulting from a change in rate-determining step is considered but rejected. The proposed explanation involves ground-state stabilization through resonance interaction between the benzoyl substituent and the electrophilic carbonyl center in the two-stage mechanism. Accordingly, the data are nicely accommodated on the basis of the Yukawa-Tsuno equation, which gives linear plots for all three nuceophiles. Literature reports of the mechanism of acyl transfer processes are reconsidered in this light.

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