Kinetics of the base-catalyzed halogenation of some ketones and esters
Kinetic measurements have been made at 25 ° C on the halogenation of benzoylacetone, acetylacetone, ethyl acetoacetate, ethyl α-bromoacetoacetate and diethyl bromomalonate. A method is described for analyzing the kinetic data and obtaining the rates of substitution of successive halogen atoms without isolating the partly halogenated derivatives. The reaction velocities measured are all independent of the halogen concentration, and represent the rates of ionization of the ketonic substances in presence of basic catalysts. The results obtained conform in general to the regularities previously found for this type of reaction, but anomalies are found in some instances; these are related to the interaction of large substituent groups in both substrate and anion catalyst. The effect of bromine substitution in increasing the reaction velocity is shown to decrease as the reactivity of the ketone increases, and this is explained in terms of the charge distribution in the anion of the substrate.