Nucleophile-electrophile interactions in the reaction of oxiranes with carboxylic acids in the presence of tertiary amines

The nucleophile-electrophile interactions in the reaction system “N,N-dimethylaniline – acetic acid – epichlorohydrin” have been investigated using kinetic methods and computer modeling. The observed orders of reactions have been determined for the overall reaction as well as for individual stages. The kinetic equations have been proposed; the activation parameters of the reactions have been evaluated. The behavior of the initial (amine) and intermediate (carboxylate) nucleophiles has been detailed in reaction pathway. Amine reacts with oxirane activated by acidic reagent while carboxylate-anion—with both activated and nonactivated epichlorohydrin. The mechanism of oxirane ring opening by acid reagent in the presence of tertiary amine has been proposed, which comprise parallel-consecutive compensation stages of reaction product formation. It has been demonstrated that the observed reaction order with respect to acid reactant depends upon the nature of electrophilic reagent (activated/nonactivated oxirane) and the ratio of the rates of compensation stages.