Remote inductive effects on secondary and tertiary 2-norbornyl solvolysis rates

A 5-cyano substituent decelerates the solvolysis rate of exo-2-norbornyl brosylate $\text{(1-H)}$ by a factor of 1790. A much smaller deceleration (24–90 fold) is observed for the secondary $\text{endo}$ and for both $\text{exo}$ and $\text{endo}$ tertiary 2-norbornyl derivatives. These results support the occurrence of σ-participation in the solvolysis of $\text{1-H}$.