Microhydration Effects on the Intermediates of the SN2 Reaction of Iodide Anion with Methyl Iodide†
This work is supported by Grant-in-Aids (21350016) for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. S.S.X. acknowledges support from the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a multiprogram national laboratory operated for the DOE by Battelle.
Graphical Abstract
Water gets in the way: Hydrated I−(CH3I) complexes, I−(CH3I)(H2O)1–3, are investigated by IR photodissociation spectroscopy to examine the stable structures of the intermediates of the I−+CH3I→ICH3+I− SN2 reaction under hydrated conditions. The structures and the energetics of the complexes suggest that just one or two H2O molecules will effectively inhibit this SN2 reaction.