C-13 and N-15 kinetic isotope effects on the decarboxylation of 3-carboxybenzisoxazole. Theory vs experiment

Nitrogen and carbon kinetic isotope effects were measured on the decarboxylation of 3-carboxybenzisoxazole at room temperature. The nitrogen isotope effect in acetone is 1.0312 +/- 0.0006. The carbon isotope effect shows no dependence on the solvent polarity: 1.0448 +/- 0.0007 in 1,4-dioxane, 1.0445 +/- 0.0001 in acetonitrile, 1.0472 +/- 0.0013 in DMF, and 1.0418 +/- 0.0027 in water. These isotope effects were modeled theoretically at the semiempirical (AM1, PM3, SAM1) and ab initio (up to B3LYP/6-31++G**) levels. The comparison of the theoretical and experimental results leads to the conclusion that none of the theory levels employed is capable of quantitatively predicting these isotope effects.