Better late than never! Transition state character involved in the neutral solvolysis of an oxalic ester determined by the ionizing power of ethanol/water and methanol/water mixtures

Solvation effects and solvolysis extent are major aspects of the decomposition of esters, particularly in polar protic media. Among the many different ester derivatives, oxalic esters are substances that have two ester groups in the same molecular framework, but with potentially different reactivities. Aryl oxalic esters are commonly used in efficient organic chemiluminescent reactions, leading to important analytical and biological applications. We studied the decomposition of bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate (TCPO) in 100, 98, 95, 90, 80, 70, 60, and 50% ethanol/water (EtOH/W) and 100, 90, 80, and 70% methanol/water (MeOH/W) mixtures (% in v/v). In these media, one phenolic residue is generated in a fast addition–elimination (step 1), followed by a second slower addition–elimination (step 2), thus, two rate constants are observed. Using a Grunwald–Winstein (G–W) relationship between these rate constants and the solvent ionizing power (Υ), we determined the sensibility (m) to solvation effects and charge development associated with the transition state (TS) of the rate-determining step (rds). We also determined the Gibbs free energy of activation (∆‡G, at 25 °C) associated with each step, and used it to rationalize the TS character of the rds, considering that in both steps a zwitterionic intermediate is generated and that the addition step is rate limiting. In EtOH/W binary mixtures a non-linear G–W plot was observed, and for 100–95% EtOH/W mixtures the sensibility was m = 1.0 (step 1, ∆‡G = 21.6 to 20.6 kcal mol−1) and 1.1 (step 2, ∆‡G = 23.9 to 23.0 kcal mol−1), indicating full ionization in the TS of the addition step. Smaller Y values in 90–50% EtOH/W reflect a more symmetrical TS, with not as many charges being generated (step 1, m = 0.196, ∆‡G = 20.3 to 19.4 kcal mol−1; step 2, m = 0.30, ∆‡G = 22.6 to 21.7 kcal mol−1). In 100%–70% MeOH/W binary mixtures, with Y values similar to those for 90–50% EtOH/W, m = 0.52 (step 1, ∆‡G = 20.3 to 18.8 kcal mol−1) and 0.27 (step 2, ∆‡G = 21.5 to 20.9 kcal mol−1) were observed. Particularly for step 1 in MeOH/W, the observation of a solvent kinetic isotope effect that varies from inverse (0.63 ± 0.09 in pure MeOH) to normal (1.9 ± 0.3 in 70% MeOH/W) is consistent with the significant participation of the solvent in TS stabilization, resembling general acid catalysis. •Solvolysis of TCPO shows a non-linear Grunwald-Winstein plot.•Low water content is associated to full ionization on the TS.•The two ester groups