Substituent effects on the solvolysis rates of α-t-butyl-α-neopentylbenzyl and α-t-butyl-α-isopropylbenzyl p-nitrobenzoates in 50% (v/v) aqueous EtOH at 75 °C were correlated with the Yukawa–Tsuno equation to give ρ = −3.37 and r = 0.78, and ρ = −3.09 and r = 0.68, respectively. The reduction in r values from r = 1.00 characteristic of full conjugation is ascribed to deviation from coplanarity of the carbocationic center and the benzylic π-system in the transition state. The torsion angles for twisting out of coplanarity were estimated from the relationship r/rmax = cos2 θ for a series of sterically hindered tertiary dialkylbenzylic solvolyses. The torsion angles assigned for these twisted benzylic systems are in good agreement with theoretically calculated dihedral angles of the corresponding 6-31G*optimized carbenium ions. This identity provides convincing evidence for occurrence of steric inhibition of resonance through loss of coplanarity, and, in turn, provides strong support for our characterization of the r value as a resonance demand parameter reflecting the degree of resonance (π-delocalization) interaction between an aryl group and the reaction site.
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