Behaviour Modelling of Organic Bases in the Oxyalkylation Reaction of Proton-Containing Nucleophiles

The mechanism of action of nucleophilic and non-nucleophilic bases in the system “acetic acid (HOAc) – epichlorohydrin (ECH) – R3X (R = alkyl, X = N, P)” has been studied. The observed orders of the reaction with respect to the components were found. It has been proved that the catalytic activity of the starting bases is determined by their nucleophilicity, rather than basicity. It is shown that the crucial stage of the reaction is the quaternisation of the starting base with the formation of a reactive intermediate, the acetate anion. Monitoring of possible paths of oxirane ring-opening by the initial base and the acetate anion was carried out. The behaviour of the model base, triphenylphosphine, in the quaternisation reaction was studied by UV spectroscopy. The rate constants of quaternisation in the reaction of tribenzylamine and triphenylphosphine with ECH have been estimated. The activation parameters of the stages of oxirane ring-opening by trimethylamine and the acetate anion were calculated using a quantum chemical method. It has been shown that the starting base attacks only the activated oxirane, while the acetate anion is capable of nucleophilic opening of both activated and non-activated ECH rings. A scheme for the catalytic opening of the oxirane ring by the bases in the system “ECH – HOAc – R3X” is proposed, which includes a series of both consecutive and parallel stages leading to the formation of the reaction product.