The reactions of acyl chlorides and acid anhydrides
Acyl chlorides and acid anhydrides are both more reactive than carboxylic acids, reacting with a wide range of nucleophiles and
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Tag: reaction mechanism
Making and breaking esters
Making esters Esters are a derivative of carboxylic acids and formed from the reaction between a carboxylic acid and an
What makes a good leaving group?
And why do some perfectly plausible reactions just not happen? Acyl chlorides readily react with hydroxide ions to form a
How to prepare a halogenoalkane
There are number of ways to make a halogenoalkane, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Halogenation of
Reaction mechanisms, intermediates and the rate determining step
There are many reactions which happen as the stoichiometric (chemical) equation would suggest … e.g. the reaction between chlorine radicals
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Elimination reactions – dehydrating an alcohol
If we dehydrate an alcohol, we are essentially removing a water molecule and the product will be an alkene. The
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Electrophilic addition in alkenes (3) – reaction with water to form an alcohol
The reaction of an alkene with water to from an alcohol is an example of a hydration reaction. The alkene
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Electrophilic addition in alkenes (2) – the bromine water test
The classic test for an alkene is to shake your sample with orange bromine water, and if the molecule contains
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Making addition polymers by radical polymerisation
The mechanism for addition polymerisation is another example of a radical reaction. Teflon (PTFE), famously known for its non-stick properties,
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Electrophilic addition reactions in alkenes (1)
Now that you have been introduced to the terminology and fundamental ideas of reaction mechanisms, it is time to focus
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