The effect of various reagents on the rate of hydrolysis of n-propyl chlorosulfate in 10 aqueous dioxane is reported. I-Ialide ions increase the rate of reaction (I-> Br-> C1-) but perchlorate is without effect. Hydroxide and pyrrolidine have a strong accelerating effect, but only a t higher concentrations. These observations sopport a bimolecular mechanism: rate-determining displace~nex~t by nucleophile on carbon, with OSO2C1-as the leaving group. The present results are not In accord with a previous proposal that alkyl chlorosulfates react by rate-determining sulfur-chlorine bond fission followed by fast displacelnent by nucleophile on carbon.Alkyl chlorosulfates,~ ROS02C1, conzprise a class of acyl halide which has been only slightly studied in the past, in comparison with, for example, the structurally related chlorosulfites, ROSOCl, or the sulfonyl chlorides, RSO2Cl. I t is only recently that the diverse reactions of chlorosulfates have been utilized in organic synthesis, by Jones and co-workers (I) of this laboratory in the field of carbohydrate chemistry. The complexity of these reactions have pointed t o the necessity of detailed studies of relatively simple compounds and it is with this purpose that this series of studies was initiated. The present paper reports the results of perhaps the simplest and most basic study, that of aqueous hydrolysis of a typical primary alkyl chlorosulfate.Early studies (2) of the hydrolysis of methyl chlorosulfate in water ascribed three concurrent modes of reaction to the ester, to give the hydrogen sulfate, chloride, and inethanol (eqs.[I]-[3]); in addition some dimethyl ether xvas often observed. These reactions were heterogeneous, due to insolubility of the chlorosulfates in water.More recently Hall (3) found that under honlogenous conditions, in a nledium of aqueous dioxane, reaction occurred only according t o eq. [3]. Hall also carried out the first kinetic study on this class of acyl halide and compared their reactivity with the related sulfonyl chlorides and sulfa~nyl chlorides. I-Ie studied methyl and ethyl chlorosulfates and came t o certain conclusions concerning their nlechanism of reaction. However, these conclusions needed a reevaluation in view of the recent work by Jones et al. (1). In the present work, carried out in 10 ilJ aqueous dioxane, the effect of a variety of reagents has been investigated to ascertain the intimate nature of the hydrolysis.
RESULTS
Rate 01 Neutral HydrolysisThe products of reaction of a 0.01 M solution of n-propyl chlorosulfate in 10 1 1 l aqueous dioxane were first examined. The ionic products are HtSO? and HC1, formed in