Structure-activity considerations in kinetics and mechanism of chlorine exchange between chloramine-T and secondary amines.

To study the mechanism of N-chlorination of secondary amines by chloramine-T, the kinetics of the reactions of some aromatic-substituted analogues of N-chlorobenzenesulfonamide with various secondary amines were determined. The importance of amine basicity and reactivity of the N-Cl bond of the N-chlorobenzenesulfonamide was also assessed. The results indicate that a mechanism involving the un-ionized species of both reactants (i.e., a molecular mechanism), rather than an ionic mechanism, is operating and that the reaction most likely proceeds via a six-membered-ring transition state that incorporates a water molecule.