Chemical Reactivity

1. Changes at atoms
   1. Substitution

      

   2. Elimination

      

   3. Addition

      

       

2. Reagent
   1. Nucleophilic
      1. Heteroatom bases

         

      2. Carbon bases

         

         Exercise: Suggest a mechanism for the above transformation.

   2. Electrophilic
      1. Strong Brønsted acids

         

         Exercise: Suggest a mechanism for the above transformation.

      2. Lewis acids

          

   3. Oxidizing agent

      

   4. Reducing agent

      

   5. Free radical

      

   For each mechanism you are asked to try, classify each step in the mechanism as substitution, elimination, addition. Try to determine which of the steps might be the rate-determining step. Where you are able to, indicate which compound in a step is acting as a nucleophile and which as an electrophile. Classify each electrophile as a Brønsted acid or Lewis acid.

Reactions of Functional Groups

1. tetrahedral carbons
   1. electrophilic

      alcohols, alkyl halides and sulfonates

   2. nucleophilic

      enolates, organometallic compounds

2. trigonal and linear carbons
   1. electrophilic

      carbonyl compounds, a,b-unsaturated compounds, nitrohalobenzenes

   2. nucleophilic

      alkenes, alkynes, aromatic rings