A mechanistic change in the alkaline hydrolysis of esters of fluorene-9-carboxylic acid
Abstract
The Brønsted leaving group (β1g) plot for the alkaline hydrolysis of fluorene-9-carboxylate esters in the pH region corresponding to the existence of the ester anion shows a minimum flanked by a region of high negative β1g(-1·01), corresponding to an E1cb pathway and, for esters of pK1g > 9·5, a region of positive β1g(+0·11).