Hydrolysis of Cinnamoyl Fluoride Catalyzed by Micelles of a Copper(II) Complex

Abstract

Cinnamoyl fluoride was catalytically hydrolysed in the micelles formed by the copper(II) complex of N,N,N°- trimethyl -N°- tetradecylethylenediamine . A 25-times rate enhancement relative to the reaction in the micelles of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride was observed, but it was not as good a simulant as p- nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate for nerve agents of the soman type. It was also found that aggregation of the copper(II) complex was essential in promoting the reactivity as the monomeric copper(II) complex of N, N, N′, N′- tetramethylethylenediamine had very little effect on the hydrolysis rate.