| Abstract: | Copper(II), nickel(II), cobalt(II), and zinc(II) accelerated the carboxylate-catalyzed hydrolyses of 2,4-dinitrophenyl isonicotinate (DNPI) and 2,4-dinitrophenyl picolinate (DNPP). The rate enhancement effect of the metal ions in the partially neutralized poly(methacrylic acid)- or poly(acrylic acid)-catalyzed hydrolysis of DNPI was greater than that in the monomeric acetate ion-catalyzed hydrolysis of this ester. This feature of the reactions was explained by the formation of a ternary complex composed of the polymer, the metal ion, and the substrate, in which the metal ion serves as a template for the nucleophilic reaction between the carboxylate groups along the polymer chain and the coordinated substrate. In DNPP the metal ion effect on the polycarboxylate-catalyzed hydrolysis was smaller than that on the acetate ion-catalyzed hydrolysis. This was interpreted as the result of differences in the structure of the complex. |
