Kinetics and mechanism of the chain reaction between N-phenyl-1,4-benzoquinone monoimine and thiophenol

The kinetics of the reaction between N-phenyl-1,4-benzoquinone monoimine (quinone monoimine) and thiophenol is studied in chlorobenzene at 343 K. The reaction has the same mechanism proposed earlier for a similar reaction involving N,N'-diphenyl-1,4-benzoquinone diimine (quinone diimine). This mechanism has two paths: chain and nonchain. An important difference between the kinetics of the two reactions is the apparent reversible nature of the chain reaction in the quinone monoimine + thiophenol system. This nature reveals itself when the concentrations of thiophenol are comparable to or slightly higher than the concentrations of quinone imine. In light of this, kinetic research is conducted under conditions where the concentrations of thiophenol are significantly higher than those of quinone monoimine, allowing us to simplify the kinetic features and obtain interpretable data. The rate constants of the reaction’s elementary steps are estimated and found to be three to five times lower for the reaction involving quinone monoamine than for the one involving quinone diimine. Both reactions have relatively short chains whose lengths do not exceed several tens of units.