A novel method for correlation of substituent constants in some aromatic esters using the shift reagent Eu(fod)3

The lanthanide induced chemical shifts of the ester methyl group were studied in eighteen m-, and p-substituted aromatic methyl esters with varying amounts of added shift reagent, Eu(fod)₃. Each time the lanthanide induced shift (LIS) was plotted against the molar ratio of shift reagent (SR)/substrate and a straight line was obtained upto one mole ratio of added shift reagent. The slopes of these plots correlated well with the Hammett's σ constants and yield a value of ?4.95 for the reaction constant ?. The method is therefore one of the simplest ways of correlating the substituent constants in aromatic esters.