Rates and equilibria of the reactions of highly stabilized amino-substituted benzhydrylium ions (Ar2CH+) with carboxylate ions have been determined photometrically in acetone and acetonitrile solutions. Treatment of covalent benzhydryl carboxylates (Ar2CH-O2CR) with aqueous acetone or acetonitrile leads to the regeneration of the colored amino-substituted benzhydrylium ions Ar2CH+, which do not undergo subsequent reactions with the solvent. One can, therefore, directly measure the first step of S(N)1 reactions. The electrofugality order, i.e., the relative ionization rates of benzhydryl esters Ar2CH-O2CR with the same anionic leaving group, does not correlate with the corresponding electrophilicity order, i.e., the relative reactivities of the corresponding benzhydrylium ions Ar2CH+ toward a common nucleophile. Thus, benzhydrylium ions which are produced with equal rates by ionization of the corresponding covalent esters may differ by more than 2 orders of magnitude in their reactivities toward nucleophiles, e.g., carboxylate ions. Variable intrinsic barriers account for the breakdown of the rate-equilibrium relationships. Complete free-energy profiles for the ionization of benzhydryl carboxylates Ar2CH-O2CR are constructed, which demonstrate that the transition states of these ionizations are not carbocation-like. As a consequence, variation of the solvent-ionizing power Y has only a small effect on the ionization rate constant (m = 0.35 to 0.55) indicating that small values of m in the Winstein-Grunwald equation do not necessarily imply an S(N)2 type mechanism.

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Both primary and secondary aliphatic nitro compounds 1 were found to react with two equivalents of bromotrimethylsilane in the presence of triethylamine followed by aqueous workup to give appropriate N,N-bis(trimethylsilyloxy)enamines 3 in good isolated yields. Products 3, starting from some secondary and/or sterically hindered compounds 1, are synthesized from the corresponding silyl nitronates 2.

Diffusion or activation control: Free CN− ions are generally alkylated at carbon (see picture). N‐attack is only observable in diffusion controlled reactions with carbocations. Since isonitrile formation in reactions with [Ag(CN)2]− is due to the change of the nucleophile, the explanation of these regioselectivities by the hard and soft acids and bases principle has to be abandoned.