USE OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY FOR DETERMINING ACETOLYSIS RATES OF ARYLMETHYL P-TOLUENESULFONATES

A conductivity method is described for following the rates of solvolysis of substituted benzyl and polycyclic arylmethyl p-toluenesulfonates in anhydrous acetic acid. Small amounts of water and variations in temperature have important effects and precautions are described for handling these effects. Errors are somewhat larger than in titrimetric studies, but the averages of replicated experiments by conductivity agree well with Independent determinations by other methods. The conductivity method is especially suitable for systems of high reactivity or low solubility, or in scarce supply. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.