Reactions of the super-electrophile, 2-(2′,4′-dinitrophenyl)-4,6-dinitrobenzotriazole 1-oxide, with methoxide and tert-butoxide: basicity and steric hindrance as factors in σ-complex formation versus nucleophilic displacement

The course of the reactions of methoxide and tert-butoxide with 2-(2′,4′-dinitrophenyl)-4,6-dinitrobenzotriazole 1-oxide (4) clearly shows that the C-7 electrophilic site is significantly more reactive than the C-1′ site of the substrate. The reaction pathways of these alkoxides, which differ in basicity (as a measure of nucleophilicity) and steric bulk, were followed by 400 MHz 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. While both alkoxides lead to immediate formation of the respective C-7 anionic σ-adducts, a greater percentage of C-7 adduct formation occurs with methoxide as attacking nucleophile. Reaction with excess alkoxide results in attack at C-1′ being observed, as well. This leads to formation of metastable C-1′ σ-adducts, whose rapid decomposition results in formation of 2,4-dinitrophenyl ethers and the dinitrobenzotriazole 1-oxyanion in an overall nucleophilic displacement reaction. Under these excess conditions, methoxide also causes a faster rate of displacement than does tert-butoxide as nucleophile. These results are discussed on the basis of the basicity of the nucleophiles, the relative electrophilicity of the positions in the substrate (C-7 versus C-1′), the steric hindrance involved in attack and in the resultant C-7 and C-1′ complexes, and in terms of an activation energy/reaction coordinate profile comparing the pathways for attack at the two electrophilic sites. Key words: anionic σ-complexes, super-electrophiles, aromatic nucleophilic substitution (SN Ar).