Unimolecular, bimolecular and intramolecular hydrolysis mechanisms of 4-nitrophenyl β-D-glucopyranoside
1,2-<i>trans</i>-Glycosides hydrolyze through different mechanisms at different pH values, but systematic studies are lacking. Here we report the pH-rate constant profile for the hydrolysis of<i> </i>4-nitrophenyl β-D-glucoside. An inverse kinetic isotope effect of <i>k</i>(H<sub>3</sub>O<sup>+</sup>)/<i>k</i>(D<sub>3</sub>O)<sup>+</sup> = 0.65 in the acidic region indicates that the mechanism requires the formation of the conjugate acid of the substrate for the reaction to proceed, with heterolytic cleavage of the glycosidic C-O bond. Reactions in the pH-independent region exhibit general catalysis with a single proton in flight, a normal solvent isotope effect of <i>k</i><sub>H</sub>/<i>k</i><sub>D</sub> = 1.5, and when extrapolated to zero buffer concentration show a small solvent isotope effect <i>k</i>(H<sub>2</sub>O)/<i>k</i>(D<sub>2</sub>O) = 1.1, consistent with water attack through a dissociative mechanism. In the basic region, solvolysis in <sup>18</sup>O-labelled water and H<sub>2</sub>O/MeOH mixtures allowed detection of bimolecular hydrolysis and neighboring group participation, with a minor contribution of nucleophilic aromatic substitution. Under mildly basic conditions, a bimolecular concerted mechanism is implicated through an inverse solvent isotope effect of <i>k</i>(HO<sup>–</sup>)/<i>k</i>(DO<sup>–</sup>) = 0.5 and a strongly negative entropy of activation (D<i>S</i><sup>‡</sup> = –13.6 cal mol<sup>–1</sup> K<sup>–1</sup>). Finally, at high pH, an inverse solvent isotope effect of <i>k</i>(HO<sup>–</sup>)/<i>k</i>(DO<sup>–</sup>) = 0.6 indicates that the formation of 1,2-anhydrosugar is the rate determining step.<br>
