THE MECHANISM OF THE EXCHANGE REACTION OF CHLORINE BETWEEN BENZYL CHLORIDE AND AQUEOUS CHLORIDE SOLUTION By

The exchange rate of the chlorine of benzyl chloride with chloride ion in aqueous solution has been determined at 30°C over the whole pH range from 0 to 14, the hydrolysis of benzy I chloride which takes place simultaneously with the chlorine exchange being taken into con-sideration. It has been found that the exchange rate is constant independently of pH and proportional to chloride ion concentration in solution. On the basis of the observed results, it was concluded that the chlorine exchange proceeds by a bimolecular mechanism of nucleo· philic substitution