Non-steady-state kinetic study of the SN2 reaction between p-nitrophenoxide ion and methyl iodide in acetonitrile

Abstract

Analysis of non-steady-state kinetic data for the title reaction with tetrabutylammonium counter ions in acetonitrile in the presence and absence of sodium ions rules out the ion-pair dissociation mechanism. The reinterpretation of our data by Humeres and Bentley (Org. Biomol. Chem., 2003, 1, 1969–1971) was based on a series of assumptions that are shown to be invalid by kinetic experiments.