Curved Arrow Formalism Flashcards
What are curved arrows in terms of chemistry?
The accounting system used to express the movement of electrons
Describe the movement of electrons along an electron.
Electrons move from the tail to the head of a curved arrow
What does a double-barb arrow represent?
It represents the movement of a pair of electrons
What does a single-barb arrow represent?
It depicts the motion of a single electron
Where must a curved arrow start?
Fromm either a lone pair (lp) or from a bond (sigma or pi)
Where must a curved arrow end?
It must end either between a pair of atoms or on an atom
What happens if the curly arrow ends between a pair of atoms?
A new bond is formed
What happens if the curly arrow ends on an atom?
Then a formal charge on that destination atom will become more negative since electrons have been added to that atom
What are the three classes of reaction arrow?
A lone pair forms a new bond
An existing bond breaks to form a new lone pair
An old bond breaks to form a new bond
