Kinetics and mechanism of ammonolysis and alkaline hydrolysis of naphthyl acetates in aqueous medium: Part 1 - 4-Substituted l-naphthyl acetates

Abstract

A series of 4- substituted 1-naphthyl acetates have been prepared. The kinetics of their ammonolysis have been followed at 20°, 25° and 30°C under pseudo-first order conditions at different <i>p</i>H in water containing 1% dioxan at an ionic strength of 1.0 mol dm-3. The possible mechanisms suggest the existence of general base catalysis for 4-methyl-1-naphthyl acetate. For esters with electron-withdrawing substituents, ammonolysis proceeds through an unassisted simple nucleophilic substitution pathway. The alkaline hydrolysis of all the esters is also followed under identical reaction conditions.