Kinetics of hydride transfer between nitrogen heteroaromatic cations

Abstract

The kinetics of the reduction of the 3-cyano-1-methylquinolinium, 4-cyano-2-methylisoquinolinium, and 2-methyl-5-nitro-isoquinolinium cations by 9,10-dihydro-10-methylacridine, and also the reduction of these same three cations as well as the 10-methylacridinium cation by 5,6-dihydro-5-methylphenanthridine, have been investigated in 20% acetonitrile – 80% water, ionic strength 1.0, 25 °C. The reactions of the 2-methyl-5-nitroisoquinolinium cation with both reductants, and also of the 4-cyano-2-methylisoquinolinium cation with 9,10-dihydro-10-methylacridine, display kinetic saturation effects in the pseudo-first-order rate constants as a function of heterocyclic cation concentration. These effects are consistent with the formation of 1:1 association complexes between hydride donor and acceptor prior to the rate-determining step of the reduction. The second-order rate constants for these reactions, and also those for analogous heterocyclic cation reductions by 1,4-dihydronicotinamides, show systematic variations as a function of the hydride donor and acceptor species.