Azide and Solvent Trapping of Electrophilic Intermediates Generated during the Hydrolysis of N-(Sulfonatooxy)-N-acetyl-4-aminostilbene

Abstract

Hydrolysis of the carcinogenic title compound 1a in 5 vol % CH3CN−H2O, μ = 0.5, 20 °C at pH 7.2 in 0.02 M phosphate buffer, yields the rearranged material 3-(sulfonatooxy)-N-acetyl-4-aminostilbene (4) (23 ± 1%), threo-1,2-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-2-(4-acetamidophenyl)ethane (5) (57 ± 2%), and erythro-1,2-dihydroxy-1-phenyl-2-(4-acetamidophenyl)ethane (6) (20 ± 2%) in the absence of added nucleophiles. Addition of N3- has no effect on the rate constant for decomposition of 1a (ca. 1.9 × 10-2 s-1), but generates a number of adducts that result from trapping of three different electrophilic intermediates. The ortho-N3 adduct 3-azido-N-acetyl-4-aminostilbene (7) is produced from trapping of the nitrenium ion 2. A fit of the product yield data as a function of [N3-] provides the ratio kaz/ks of 280 ± 10 M-1 for competitive trapping of 2 by N3- and H2O. The nucleophilic aromatic substitution product 7 is a minor reaction product. The predominant site of attack by N3- on 2 (ca. 85%) is at the β-vinyl carbon to produce...