Rates of solvolysis of methanesulfonyl chloride and benzenesulfonyl chloride have been determined in H 2 0 and D,O. The free energy, enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity of activation were calculated. The exceptional accuracy of the data permitted an estimation of dAC,*/dTfrom a four parameter temperature dependence of the kinetic rates.From these data we conclude that both sulfonyl chlorides hydrolyse by the same mechanism (SN2) The change in R from CH3 to CsH5 in RS02CI did not alter AC,* but AS* (20') was changed from -8.32 to -13.25 cal deg-' n~o l e -~, resoectivelv. The significance of this difference is attributed to the probability of bond formation rather than to differences-in solvent reorganization.Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 47. 4199 (1969) This paper is the first of a series reporting detailed studies of the hydrolysis of sulfonyl chlorides5. The experimental approach is the same'as that applied in preceding studies on the halides and sulfonates: a careful examination of the effect of temperature and of isotopic substitution in the solvent on the temperature dependence of the rate of hydrolysis.In the halide series we found a remarkable similarity in the values of the heat capacity of activation, AC,,' (lo), and in the differences in AG* for hydrolysis in H,O and D,O over a range of structures for which it was reasonable to expect different degrees of bond-making in the activation process (11). These observations led to the conclusion that the SN2 transition state was reached when the charge on the halide being displaced created interaction with the solvent equal to water-water interaction; i.e. the transition state corresponded to that degree of charge development where exothermic solvation of the quasi-halide was about to begin. Consequently, it followed that for a given temperature, the charge level (ti-) on the chlorine atom, for example, is the same whether the ion is being displaced from allyl, ethyl, or methyl chloride. This in turn implies that the charge level on the anion at the transition state of an SN2 displacement is independent of the degree of nucleophilic interaction. The evidence in favor of this con-'NRCC No. 10 915. ZPresent address: Chemistry Department, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. 3NRCC Postdoctoral Fellow, 1968-1969. 4NRCC Postdoctoral Fellow, 1965. 5For references to previous work, see refs. 1-9. clusion derived from the similarity in AC,* values and from the limited range of 6 4 H * = AHD2o* -AHHzo* for SN2 displacement for the hydrolysis of alkyl halides, is weakened by the possibility that the difference in the degree of bond-malung at the transition state for the hydrolysis of the available halides is small, a possibility suggested by the uniformity of our kinetic solvent isotope effect (k.s.i.e.) values (10).To fill this deficiency we were led to examine the hydrolysis of the sulfonyl chlorides, since in this series there are good indications that a greater degree of nucleophilic overlap is required at the transition state (10, 12). We assumed ...