Chapter 16 Halogen compounds Flashcards
Halogenoalkanes
are alkanes that have one or more halogens
-They can be produced from:
–Free-radical substitution of alkanes
–Electrophilic addition of alkenes
–Substitution of an alcohol
Free-radical substitution of alkanes
- Ultraviolet light (UV) is required for the reaction to start off
- A free-radical substitution reaction is a three-step reaction consisting of initiation, propagation and termination steps
- In the initiation step the halogen bond is broken by energy from the UV light to produce two radicals in a homolytic fission reaction
- The propagation step refers to the progression (growing) of the substitution reaction in a chain type reaction
- The termination step is when the chain reaction terminates (stops) due to two free radicals reacting together and forming a single unreactive molecule
Free-radical substitution reactions of alkanes produce halogenoalkanes example
Electrophilic addition
- Halogenoalkanes can also be produced from the addition of hydrogen halides (HX) or halogens (X2) at room temperature to alkenes
- In hydrogen halides, the hydrogen acts as the electrophile and accepts a pair of electrons from the C-C bond in the alkene
- The major product is the one in which the halide is bonded to the most substituted carbon atom (Markovnikov’s rule)
- In the addition of halogens to alkenes, one of the halogen atoms acts as an electrophile and the other as a nucleophile
Electrophilic addition of hydrogen halides or hydrogen at room temperatures to alkenes results in the formation of halogenoalkanes example:
Substitution of alcohols
- In the substitution of alcohols an alcohol group is replaced by a halogen to form a halogenoalkane
- The subustition of the alcohol group for a halogen can be achieved by reacting the alcohol with:
- HX (or KBr with H2SO4 or H3PO4 to make HX)
- PCl3 and heat
- PCl5 at room temperature
- SOCl2
Substitution of alcohols to produce halogenoalkanes example
Overview of the different ways to produce halogenoalkanes
Classifying Halogenoalkanes
- A primary halogenoalkane is when a halogen is attached to a carbon that itself is attached to one other alkyl group
- A secondary halogenoalkane is when a halogen is attached to a carbon that itself is attached to two other alkyl groups
- A tertiary halogenoalkane is when a halogen is attached to a carbon that itself is attached to three other alkyl groups
Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions of Halogenoalkanes
- Halogenoalkanes are much more reactive than alkanes due to the presence of the electronegative halogens
- The halogen-carbon bond is polar causing the carbon to carry a partial positive and the halogen a partial negative charge
- A nucleophilic substitution reaction is one in which a nucleophile attacks a carbon atom which carries a partial positive charge
- An atom that has a partial negative charge is replaced by the nucleophile
Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions of Halogenoalkanes: Reaction with NaOH
- The reaction of a halogenoalkane with aqueous alkali results in the formation of an alcohol
- The halogen is replaced by the OH–
- The aqueous hydroxide (OH– ion) behaves as a nucleophile by donating a pair of electrons to the carbon atom bonded to the halogen
- Hence, this reaction is a nucleophilic substitution
Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions of Halogenoalkanes Reaction with KCN
- The nucleophile in this reaction is the cyanide, CN– ion
- Ethanolic solution of potassium cyanide (KCN in ethanol) is heated under reflux with the halogenoalkane
- The product is a nitrile
- The nucleophilic substitution of halogenoalkanes with KCN adds an extra carbon atom to the carbon chain
- This reaction can therefore be used by chemists to make a compound with one more carbon atom than the best available organic starting material
Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions of HalogenoalkanesReaction with NH3:
- The nucleophile in this reaction is the ammonia, NH3 molecule
- An ethanolic solution of excess ammonia (NH3 in ethanol) is heated under pressure with the halogenoalkane
- The product is a primary amine
- It is very important that the ammonia is in excess as the product of the nucleophilic substitution reaction, the ethylamine, can act as a nucleophile and attack another bromoethane to form the secondary amine, diethylamine
Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions of Halogenoalkanes: Reaction with aqueous silver nitrate
- Halogenoalkanes can be broken down under reflux by water to form alcohols
- The breakdown of a substance by water is also called hydrolysis
- This reaction is classified as a nucleophilic substitution reaction with water molecules in aqueous silver nitrate solution acting as nucleophiles, replacing the halogen in the halogenoalkane
- This reaction is similar to the nucleophilic substitution reaction of halogenoalkanes with aqueous alkali, however, hydrolysis with water is much slower than with the OH– ion in alkalis
- The hydroxide ion is a better nucleophile than water as it carries a full formal negative charge
- In water, the oxygen atom only carries a partial negative charge
A hydroxide ion is a better nucleophile as it has a full formal negative charge whereas the oxygen atom in water only carries a partial negative charge; this causes the nucleophilic substitution reaction with water to be much slower than with aqueous alkali