Solvent Isotope Effects and Transition-State Solvation in the Basic Methanolysis of Esters 

 -  Journal of the American Chemistry Society, 91, p.2045-1047, 1969 .
<br/><br/> Artículo 
<br/><br/> Aryl methyl carbonates and aryl acetates undergo methoxide-catalyzed methanolysis in CH30D 1.5-2.1 times faster than in CH30H. The magnitudes of isotope effects and entropies of activation indicate that the gross isotope effects originate in an increase in structure of the solvent as methoxide ion partially adds to the substrate carbonyl groups, probably accompanied by an increase in solvent librational frequencies. The sub[1]stituent-induced variations in the isotope effects and entropies of activation are most easily interpreted as involving changes in hydrogen-bonding strength for solvent molecules.