• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.2263-2270
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• 2014

Solvolysis rate constants of 2-phenylethyl-(2-$PhCH_2CH_2OCOCl$, 1) and 2,2-diphenylethyl chloroformate (2,2-$Ph_2CHCH_2OCOCl$, 2), together with the previously studied solvolyses of ${\alpha}$- and ${\beta}$-substituted chloroformate ester derivatives, are reported in pure and binary solvents at $40.0^{\circ}C$. The linear free energy relationship (LFER) and sensitivities (l and m) to changes in solvent nucleophilicity ($N_T$) and solvent ionizing power ($Y_{Cl}$) of the solvolytic reactions are analyzed using the Grunwald-Winstein equation. The kinetic solvent isotope effects (KSIEs) in methanol and activation parameter values in various solvents are investigated for 1 and 2. These results support well the bimolecular pathway with same aspects. Furthermore, the small negative values of the entropies of activation of solvolysis of 1 and 2 in the highly ionizing aqueous fluoroalcohols are consistent with the ionization character of the rate-determining step, and the KSIE values of 1.78 and 2.10 in methanol-d indicate that one molecule of solvent acts as a nucleophile and the other acts as a general-base catalyst. It is found that the ${\beta}$-substituents in alkyl chloroformate are not the important factor to decide the solvolysis reaction pathway.