Charge screening in the S(N)2 reaction of charged electrophiles and charged nucleophiles: an ionic liquid effect.
The application of liquids that are salts at room temperature to chemical synthesis has become a hugely exciting field of study. The greatest promise that these ionic liquids hold is that they might offer process advantages, even novel behaviors that cannot be achieved in molecular solvents. We report here that the S(N)2 reaction of the trifluoromethanesulfonate and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide salts of dimethyl-4-nitrophenylsulfonium ([p-NO(2)PhS(CH(3))(2)](+)[X](-); [X](-) = [CF(3)SO(3)](-), [N(CF(3)SO(2))(2)](-)) with chloride ion follow a fundamentally different pathway to when the same salts react in molecular solvents.
Hallett
Jason P
JP
Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
Liotta
Charles L
CL
Ranieri
Giuseppe
G
Welton
Tom
T