Comparing isotope effects and rates for the methanolic sodium methoxide reactions of 9-r-fluorene to those for p-CF₃C₆H₄CHClR (R = CH₂Cl, CH₂F and CF₃)

Kinetic primary isotope effects and activation parameters associated with the methanolic sodium methoxide-promoted dehydrohalogenation reactions of 9-(chloromethyl)fluorene and 9-(fluoromethyl)fluorene are reported and compared to for p-CF₃C₆H₄CHClCH₂Cl and p-CF₃C₆H₄CHClCH₂F. The element effect, k^HCl/k^HF = 4 at 25 °C, for the fluorenyl compounds is only a tenth of the value, k^HCl/k^HF = 54, obtained for the benzylic compounds. Also reported are the activation parameters for the methanolic sodium methoxide reactions of 9-(trifluoro)methylfluorene for deuterium exchange and dehydrofluorination, and are compared to those for p-CF₃C₆H₄CHClCF₃. In both cases the exchange reaction is faster than the elimination; however, in the fluorenyl system there is a large difference between the entropies of activation for exchange, ΔS^≠ = -14 eu, and elimination, ΔS^≠ = +10 eu; however, the ΔS^≠ of 12-13 eu are the same for the benzylic systems. The eliminations for 9-(chloromethyl)fluorene and 9-(fluoromethyl)fluorene are 80 to 1,000 times faster than those for p-CF₃C₆H₄CHClCH₂X. The reactions of 9-(trifluoromethyl)fluorene are favored over p-CF₃C₆H₄CHClCF₃ by 200,000 for the dehydrofluorination and 1,000 for the exchange at 25 °C; however, due to the large differences in activation entropies, the exchange reaction is favored by 10⁷ at -50 °C.