This chapter is divided into three sections: Proton transfer from carbon acids to methoxide ion; proton ttransfer from methanol to carbanion intermediates; proton transfer associated with methoxide promoted dehydrohalogenation reactions.
Proton Transfer from Carbon Acids to Methoxide IonKnowledge of equilibrium pK a values of carbon acids is important for an understanding of organic chemistry; however, they are not always reliable indicators of relative rates for proton transfer reactions. Ritchie [1] predicted in 1969 that carbon acids whose conjugate bases have localized charge will show "kinetic acidities" greater than their thermodynamic acidities. This is illustrated by the weaker acid pentafluorobenzene-t [PFB-t], pK a = 25.8 [2], with a methanolic sodium methoxide catalyzed protodetritiation rate, k = 2.57 · 10 -2 M -1 s -1 [3], that is 15 times faster at 25 C than that for 9-phenylfluorene-9-t [9-PhFl-9-t], pK a = 18.5 and k = 1.54 · 10 -3 M -1 s -1 [4]. Primary kinetic isotope effects [PKIE] can be used to determine C-H bond breaking in the rate limiting steps of any reaction mechanism. Normal hydrogen isotope effects are largely due to zero-point energy differences of the stretching frequencies of C-H vs. C-D bonds. If only stretching frequencies are considered the value for k H /k D would be 6.2 for the C-i H bond. With allowance for bending vibrations this could result in a k H /k D = 10, k H /k T = 27 and k D /k T = 2.7 at 25 C [5]. Melander [6] and Westheimer [7] suggested that lower values of k H /k D could be due to residual zero-point energy in an asymmetric transition structure. For this reason the magnitude of k H /k D was often used to assign early or late transition structures for hydron-transfer reactions. Smaller values due to asymmetric transition structures should still obey the Swain-Schaad relationship [8], k H /k T = (k H /k D ) 1.442 . The k D /k T = 1.0 associated with the exchange reactions of PFB i H suggest that the C-H bond is not broken in the rate limiting step and this differs significantly from the k D /k T of 2.54 measured from the reactions of 9-PhFl-9-i H.