Electrophilic aromatic substitutions: reactions of hydroxy- and methoxy-substituted benzenes with 4,6-dinitrobenzofuroxan: kinetics and mechanism

Abstract

Rate constants have been determined in aqueous Me2SO mixtures for the reaction of super-electrophilic 4,6-dinitrobenzofuroxan (DNBF) with a series of hydroxy- and methoxy-substituted benzenes whose pKa values range between -3 and -9. The study extends the reactivity range of weakly basic aromatics with DNBF, from the family of indoles previously studied with pKa values ranging from -1 to -6. The overall rate constants for the reactions of DNBF as the electrophile are at least one order of magnitude greater than for the reactions of H3O+ with the same series of aromatics. This lends further credence to the notion that DNBF possesses super-electrophilic properties. An LFER is observed between logk and pK with slope 0.54. In the case of 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene a significant kinetic isotope effect (KIE) is observed (kH/kD = 3.71 in 50% Me2SO). This system hence affords one of the few instances in which a KIE has been observed in SEAr reactions. It follows from the observed KIE that the addition of DNBF to the aromatic is not rate-limiting and that reversion to reactants and proton loss from the arenonium intermediate occur at comparable rates. Structures of the products of electrophilic substitution have been confirmed by 1H NMR. In all cases the regiochemistry of the reactions was identical to that observed in protonation studies of the starting aromatics. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.