Kinetics and mechanism of the thermal decomposition of 1-bromo-4-nitroxymethylcubane

The thermal decomposition kinetics of 1-bromo-4-nitroxymethylcubane in the liquid phase is typical of C-ONO2 bond heterolysis, which occurs if the nitro ester has a strong donor substituent. A comparison between 1-bromo-4-nitroxymethylcubane and tert-butyl nitrate shows that bromocubyl is close to the tert-butyl group in induction properties and cubyl itself is a stronger donor than this group.