The specific rates of solvolysis of isobutyl fluoroformate (1) have been measured at 40.0 °C in 22 pure and binary solvents. These results correlated well with the extended Grunwald-Winstein (G-W) equation, which incorporated the N(T) solvent nucleophilicity scale and the Y(Cl) solvent ionizing power scale. The sensitivities (l and m-values) to changes in solvent nucleophilicity and solvent ionizing power, and the k(F)/k(Cl) values are very similar to those observed previously for solvolyses of n-octyl fluoroformate, consistent with the additional step of an addition-elimination pathway being rate-determining. The solvent deuterium isotope effect value (k(MeOH)/k(MeOD)) for methanolysis of 1 was determined, and for solvolyses in ethanol, methanol, 80% ethanol, and 70% TFE, the values of the enthalpy and the entropy of activation for the solvolysis of 1 were also determined. The results are compared with those reported earlier for isobutyl chloroformate (2) and other alkyl haloformate esters and mechanistic conclusions are drawn.
Keywords: Grunwald-Winstein equation; addition-elimination; i-butyl fluoroformate; leaving group effect; solvolysis.