Abstract

The mechanism of solvolyses of activated ortho-, meta- and para-substituted benzyl chlorides in aqueous ethanol has been studied by using the Hammett-Brown and Yukawa-Tsuno treatments as well as by correlating logarithms of solvolysis rate constants with relative stabilities of corresponding benzyl carbocations in water calculated at the IEFPCM-M06–2X/6-311+G(3df,3pd) level of theory. Benzyl chlorides containing strong conjugative electron-donors in the para-position solvolyze by the SN1 mechanism, whereas other activated benzyl chlorides solvolyze by the SN2 mechanism via loose transition states.

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