Determination of NO chemical affinities of benzyl nitrite in acetonitrile

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in the study of NO chemical affinities of organic nitrites, for the biological and physiological effects of organic nitrites seem to be due to their ability to release NO. In this paper, NO chemical affinities of ten substituted benzyl nitrites were determined by titration calorimetry combined with a thermodynamic cycle in acetonitrile solution. The results show that ?H_het(O–NO)s of benzyl nitrites are substantially larger than the corresponding ?H_homo(O–NO)s, suggesting that these O-nitroso compounds much more easily release NO radicals by the O–NO bond homolytic cleavage. It is believed that the structural and energetic information disclosed in this work should be useful in understanding chemical and biological functions of organic nitrites.

Keywords

benzyl nitrite / chemical affinity / O& / #8211 / NO bond energy / titration calorimetry