HYDROGEN ISOTOPE EFFECT IN THE AMINATION OF CHLOROBENZENE BY SODAMIDE

Mixtures of chlorobenzene and chlorobenzene-2-2H have been subjected to partial amination by sodamide in liquid ammonia and both the unreacted starting material and the product aniline have been analyzed for deuterium. Deuterium in the aniline is distributed approximately equally between the ortho and meta positions. The results give strong support to the mechanism proposed by Roberts and co-workers in which the slow step is the formation of an intermediate, such as benzyne, which is symmetrical with respect to carbon atoms 1 and 2.