An NMR study of hydrogen exchange in p-hydroxybenzoic acid

The compound has been used over a temperature range in dimethylsulfoxide, with trichloroacetic acid and triethylamine as catalysts. The rate constant for uncatalyzed bimolecular exchange at 25 C is k_N=131 M^–1 sec^–1; the constant for acid-catalyzed exchange is k_A=0.9 · 10⁴ M^–1 sec^–1; and that for base-catalyzed exchange is k_B=0.5 · 10⁴ M^–1 sec^–1. The activation energy for uncatalyzed exchange is 5.75 kcal/mole. The exchange rates in dimethylformamide and acetone are higher, on account of differences in the hydrogen bond. The exchange rates of the isomers fall in the sequence ortho > para > meta, which is due to conjugation and intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The exchange mechanism is discussed. Simple relationships in dimensionless parameters are given for calculating the exchange rate from the shape of the NMR signal.