Isotope effects in nucleophilic substitution reactions. VI. The effect of ion pairing on the transition state structure of SN2 reactions

Abstract

Spectroscopic and conductivity studies of sodium thiophenoxide solutions in four different solvents and the secondary α-deuterium kinetic isotope effects found in the presence of 15-crown-5 ether demonstrate that the secondary α-deuterium kinetic isotope effect and transition state structure for the SN2 reaction between sodium thiophenoxide and n-butyl chloride are significantly different, depending on whether the ionic reactant is a solvent-separated ion-pair complex or a free ion. In all three solvents in which the form of the ionic reactant changes, a smaller isotope effect and tighter transition state are found for the reaction with the ion-pair complex.