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Relative Reactivity of Alkyl Halides Essay

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Relative Reactivity of Alkyl Halides

Introduction
Nucleophilic substitution of alkyl halides can proceed by two different mechanisms – the SN2 and the SN1. The purpose of the experiment was to identify the effects that the alkyl group and the halide-leaving group have on the rates of SN1 reactions, and the effect that the solvent has on the rates of SN1 and SN2 reactions. The SN1 mechanism is a two-step nucleophilic substitution, or unimolecular displacement. In the first step of the mechanism, the carbon-halogen bond breaks and the halide ion leaving group leaves in a slow, rate-determining step to form a carbocation intermediate. The carbocation intermediate is then immediately detained by the weak nucleophile in a fast, second …show more content…

Five drops of each of the following reagents were added to the test tubes in numerical order: 2-bromo-2-methylpropane, 2-bromobutane, 1-bromobutane, 1-chlorobutane. Twenty drops of NaI in acetone were added to each test tube, the time of the first drop was recorded, and the tubes were mixed. The exact time of the first sign of cloudiness in each test tube was noted. The exact time of the first sign of precipitation was noted. If no reaction occurred within five minutes, the test tube was placed in a warm water bath. No color change was observed, only a change in cloudiness of the solutions.
For part B, the test tubes were rinsed with ethanol and then the same amount of each alkyl halide was placed into each test tube. Twenty drops of silver nitrate in

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