Micellar catalysis of the basic hydrolysis of N-methyl-N-(4'-nitropheny1)-2-phenoxyacetamide. Variation of the magnitude of catalysis for differentsources of hydroxide ions

Abstract

The hydrolysis of N-methyl-N-(4'-nitrophenyl)-2-phenoxyacetamide has been studied in the presence and absence of micelles of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The micellar catalysis depends on the reaction system being used. Hydrolysis in the presence of sodium hydroxide, and in the presence of borate, carbonate/bicarbonate and triethylamine/triethylammonium chloride buffers has been examined. The magnitude of catalysis is shown to depend on the buffer system used, the concentration of detergent, the concentration of the buffer, the pH and the presence of any added salts. The results confirm that it is unrealistic to compare independent sets of results on different compounds unless the conditions for obtaining those results are identical.    

Hydrolysis in the presence of carbonate/bicarbonate buffers is shown to be subject to buffer catalysis and, by analogy with results for p-nitrophenyl acetate, nucleophilic catalysis by carbonate ions is suggested.