Kinetic and Equilibrium Studies of the Reactions of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene and 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene-d3 with Sodium and Potassium t-Butoxide in t-Butanol
The reactions of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene fully deuterated at the methyl position (TNT-d3) with sodium and potassium t-butoxide in t-butanol have been studied. With TNT as the substrate, proton abstraction by ion-paired sodium or potassium t-butoxide appears to be the predominant reaction in solution. With sodium t-butoxide as base, the forward rate constant for proton abstraction at 30.0 °C (Kf,ip) is 6000 ± 400 M−1 s−1 while ΔH≠ and ΔS≠ for the reaction are 4.2 ± 0.3 kcal mol−1 and −27 ± 2 cal deg−1 mol−1, respectively. With TNT-d3 as the substrate, formation of a TNT-d3-t-butoxide ion σ-complex occurs simultaneously with deuteron abstraction. Specific rate constants for the two processes have been determined at 30.0 °C. Initial rate studies establish a hydrogen-deuterium kinetic isotope effect of 8 ± 1 for the formation of the anion in t-butanol.