Podand solvents for organic reactions

Three tris(oxaalkyl)phenylsilanes and two tris(oxaalkyl) phosphates were used as podand solvents in kinetic studies of proton transfer reactions between C-acids: dimethyl (4-nitrophenyl)malonate or phenyl-4-nitrophe-nylcyanomethane and the strong base: 7-methyl-1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (MTBD). The acceptor numbers were measured for all new podand solvents. The kinetic parameters for studied reactions were obtained, discussed and compared with those of acetonitrile and OP(OEt)(3) as non-podand solvents. This study demonstrated that the second order rate constants strongly decreased and the energy barrier increased for the proton transfer reaction in podand solvents. Spectroscopic observations showed that ionic products were strongly stabilised and therefore their lifetime was relatively long. The podand solvents formed the ionic channels in which ionic products are strongly solvated.