Catalysis of a nucleophilic reaction by cationic latexes

Abstract Polystyrene latexes 200 nm in diameter and containing quaternary ammonium ions have the internal structure of anion exchange resins and the surface of surfactant micelles. They increase the o-iodosobenzoate (IBA) anion-catalyzed rate of hydrolysis of p-nitro-phenyl diphenyl phosphate (PNPDPP) up to 6300 times in dilute aqueous dispersions by providing a phase of the reaction mixture in which the products of the PNPDPP and IBA concentrations are up to 630 times higher than in the aqueous phase, and in which the intrinsic second-order rate constants are up to ten times faster than in water. As in phase transfer catalysis, highest activity is achieved with the most lipophilic tetraalkylammonium ions.