Kinetics and Mechanism of the Anilinolysis of Ethylene Phosphorochloridate in Acetonitrile

The nucleophilic substitution reactions of ethylene phosphorochloridate (1c) with substituted anilines ($XC_6H_4NH_2$) and deuterated anilines ($XC_6H_4ND_2$) are investigated kinetically in acetonitrile at $5.0^{\circ}C$. The anilinolysis rate of 1c involving a cyclic five-membered ring is four thousand times faster than its acyclic counterpart (1a: diethyl chlorophosphate) because of great positive value of the entropy of activation of 1c (${\Delta}S^{\neq}=+30\;cal\;mol^{-1}K^{-1}$ compared to negative value of 1a (${\Delta}S^{\neq}=-45\;cal\;mol^{-1}K^{-1}$) over considerably unfavorable enthalpy of activation of 1c (${\Delta}H^{\neq}=27.7\;kcal\;mol^{-1}$) compared to 1a (${\Delta}H^{\neq}=8.3\;kcal\;mol^{-1}$). Great enthalpy and positive entropy of activation are ascribed to sterically congested transition state (TS) and solvent structure breaking in the TS. The free energy correlations exhibit biphasic concave upwards for substituent X variations in the X-anilines with a break point at X = 3-Me. The deuterium kinetic isotope effects are secondary inverse ($k_H/k_D$ < 1) with the strongly basic anilines and primary normal ($k_H/k_D$ > 1) with the weakly basic anilines and rationalized by the TS variation from a dominant backside attack to a dominant frontside attack, respectively. A concerted $S_N2$ mechanism is proposed and the primary normal deuterium kinetic isotope effects are substantiated by a hydrogen bonded, four-center-type TS.