Reactivity of typical solvolytic reactions in SDS and TTABr water-in-oil microemulsions

The kinetics of the solvolysis reactions of diphenylmethyl chloride, 4-nitrophenyl chloroformate, benzoyl chloride, anisoyl chloride, and bis(4-nitrophenyl)carbonate were studied in isooctane/SDS/1-hexanol/water and isooctane/TTABr/1-hexanol/water microemulsions with a constant [1-hexanol]/[surfactant] ratio of 5. The results were interpreted by means of a pseudophase model for (isooctane + hexanol)/(surfactant + hexanol)/ water systems, the distribution of hexanol between isooctane and surfactant being calculated from previously published data. The intrinsic rate constant for the reaction in the interfacial pseudophase varied with the water content of the microemulsion droplets in a way that depended on both the nature of the surfactant and the mechanism of the reaction.