Reactions of aromatic sulphonyl chlorides with anilines : Studies of solvent effects by the approach of multiparameter empirical correlations

The reaction kinetics of 5-substituted 2-thiophenesulphonyl chlorides with anilines were studied in fourteen pure solvents (protic and aprotic) and in mixed solvents at 25°. The approach of multiparameter equations to describe solvent effects according to the Palm-Koppel and Krygowski-Fawcett models was unsuccessful. Instead satisfactory single parameter linear correlations, one for protic solvents with positive slope and another for aprotic solvents with negative slope, were found by using the dielectric constant ?. An S_AN mechanism for these reactions was proposed, bond-making being the rate-determining step for protic solvents and bond-breaking for aprotic ones. The analysis of some data for the reactions of benzenesulphonyl chloride showed that the mechanism is analogous also for this substrate and the rate-determining step is depending on both solvent and nucleophile. Hammett ρ-values for the reactions of substituted 2-thiophenesulphonyl chlorides with aniline are in accord with the proposed mechanism. ?-Values for the reactions of 2-thiophenesulphonyl chloride with substituted anilines are related to the solvent effects by equation ? = ? 15.7 f(?) + 0.113E + 3.94. The solvent effects on these values can be interpreted by the effect of the dielectric constant and the influence of H-bonding. Mixed solvents are characterized by the presence of a maximum rate.