Isotopic labelling studies have shown that the E2 reaction of 1-chloro-2-phenylethane with potassium tert-butoxide in tert-butyl alcohol occurs via an anti-periplanar stereochemistry. This demonstrates that the different secondary alpha deuterium kinetic isotope effects found for the high and low base concentrations and in the presence of 18-crown-6 ether are because of changes in transition state structure that occur when the form of the reacting base changes rather than to a change in the stereochemistry of the reaction.Key words: E2 reaction, stereochemistry, secondary alpha deuterium kinetic isotope effects, transition state.

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