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The [S.sub.N]2 reaction of the trifluoromethanesulfonate and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide salts of dimethyl-4-nitrophenylsulfonium with chloride ion has followed different pathway to when the same salts have reacted in molecular solvents.

The second-order rate constant ([k.sub.2]) is described for the esterification of methoxyacetic acid with benzyl alcohol. The studies on the effect of solvent basicity have shown that the hydrogen bond basicity of the solvent is the dominant parameter in determining the esterification rate and that the best rates are obtained in low basicity solvents.

The application of liquids that are salts at room temperature to chemical synthesis has become a hugely exciting field of study. The greatest promise that these ionic liquids hold is that they might offer process advantages, even novel behaviors that cannot be achieved in molecular solvents. We report here that the SN2 reaction of the trifluoromethanesulfonate and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide salts of dimethyl-4-nitrophenylsulfonium ([p-NO2PhS(CH3)2]+[X]-; [X]- = [CF3SO3]-, [N(CF3SO2)2]-) with chloride ion follow a fundamentally different pathway to when the same salts react in molecular solvents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]