(88d) Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions In Ionic Liquids

This paper presents a quantitative comparison of the rates of nucleophilic reactions in ionic liquids and molecular solvents. Both neutral and ionic nucleophiles and electrophiles were used and the solvent effects on these various systems were determined using a Linear Solvation Energy Relationship based on the Kamlet-Taft solvent scales. These correlations reveal that different hydrogen bonding and dipolar interactions provide the dominant effects in determining the rate of reaction, depending upon the specific system under study. The results of this system are useful for predicting nucleophilic interactions at metal centres involved in catalytic processes.