Kinetics of Cyclization of Methyl S-(2,4,6-Trinitrophenyl)mercaptoacetate to 2-Methoxycarbonyl-5,7-dinitrobenzo[d]thiazol-3-oxide

Abstract

The cyclization kinetics of methyl S-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)mercaptoacetate to 2-methoxycarbonyl-5,7-dinitrobenzo[d]thiazol-3-oxide have been studied in acetate, methoxyacetate or N-methylmorpholine buffers. In the acetate and methoxyacetate buffers, the cyclization obeys the rate equation v = [SH](k'MeO[CH3O-] + k'B[B-] + k'B,MeO[B-][CH3O-]) and goes by two reaction paths differing in the order of their reaction steps, the splitting off of the proton from C-H group being the rate-limiting step in either path. In the N-methylmorpholine buffers, increasing concentration of the base results in gradual decrease of reaction order in the base and change in the rate-limiting step of cyclization. Methyl S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)mercaptoacetate undergoes cyclization neither in the given buffers nor in methoxide solution.