Acid catalysis in non-aqueous solvents. I.—The rearrangement of N-bromoacetanilide

Abstract

Modern theoretical and experimental research upon catalysis by acids and bases has shown that catalysis in aqueous solutions in aqueous solutions if often effected not only by the hydrogen ion ( i. e ., H 3 O + ) and the hydroxyl ion, but also by any molecular species which conforms to modern definitions of acids and bases. To take an example, the muta-rotation of glucose is catalysed not only by the ions H 3 O + and OH - , but also by undissociated acid molecules, the ammonium ion, the neater molecule, amine bases, and the anious of weak acids. On the quantitative aide, Brönsted has discovered an empirical relation which is of very general application in expressing the variation of catalytic power with the acidic or basic strength of the catalyst. For acid catalysis, this relation may be written k A = GK D x , (1) where k A is the catalytic constant of the acid, its electrolytic dissociation constant, and G and x constants for a given reaction, x being always less than unity.