The ketonization of acetophenone enol in concentrated aqueous sulphuric and perchloric acid solutions. Implication on X acidity function correlations of the enolization reaction and determination of the keto–enol equilibrium constant as a function of acidity

Rates of ketonization of the enol of acetophenone, generated by flash photolytic photohydration of phenylacetylene, were measured in aqueous sulfuric and perchloric acid solutions over the concentration range 1–50 wt.% acid; rates of enolization of acetophenone, monitored by bromine scavenging, were also measured in aqueous perchloric acid solutions over the same concentration range. The results suggest that the curvature observed in a previous X acidity function correlation of the rate of enolization in sulfuric acid solutions was an artifact produced by insufficiently efficient scavenging, and that introduction of the activity of water in the correlating expression, used previously to eliminate the curvature and believed to reflect covalent involvement of water in the enolization reaction, is unnecessary. The present results also show that the keto–enol equilibrium constant for acetophenone decreases with increasing acidity in these concentrated sulfuric and perchloric acid solutions. Key words: acetophenone, enolization, ketonization, keto–enol equilibrium, concentrated acid solutions.