REACTION PATHWAYS Flashcards
alkane subsitution reactions
- occurs when an atom or functional group in a molecule is substituted by another atom or group
- alkanes can undergo substitution reactions with halogens such as Cl and Br to produce haloalkanes
- won’t occur at room temp or in the dark and must be initiated with UV light
- if enough halogen is present - successive hydrogens can be replaced producing a range of haloalkane products
- these products will have different boiling points and can be separate by fractional distillation
electronegativity
- ability of an atom to attract electrons towards itself when forming a chemical bond
- electronegativity difference= higher electronegativity value - lower electronegativity value
- increases across the period and decreases down the group
haloalkane substitution reactions
- substitution reaction
- the halogen is swapped for a hydroxyl group
- the reactions of haloalkanes with hydroxide ions can be represented as:
- OH- + RCl → ROH where R is an alkyl group
- can also react with ammonia in substation reactions to form an amine
- no catalyst is req
- AMMONIA ONLY REACTS WITH HALOALKANES not alkanes
reaction of alkenes
- combusition in air
- addition reactions
- reacting with H2 - hydrogenation
- reacting with halogens
- reacting with hydrogen halides (HCl, HF)
- reacting with water - hydration reaction
- addition polymerisation
addition reactions - alkenes
- involve the addition of a small molecule to the double bond of the alkene
- 2 reactant molecules combine to form 1 product
- carbon-carbon double bond becomes a single bond
- unsaturated alkene becomes saturated
- no inorganic product form
addition reaction with hydrogen
alkenes react with H2 gas in the presence of a catalyst (eg. nickel)
- forms alkanes
reactions of alkenes with halogens
- can proceed at room temp w/o catalyst
- each halogen atom attaches to a carbon atom that forms a double bond
- the product is known as a di-substituted haloalkane
- used to test for double bonds
reaction of alkenes with hydrogen halides
- 2 isomers can form
- position of hydrogen and the halogen atom creates diff isomers
- forms a haloalkane
reactions of alkenes with water
- only react w water under specific conditions
- 300 degrees Celsius and with a phosphoric acid catalyst (H3PO4)
- SPEEDS UP RATE OF REACTION
- gaseous reactant passed over solid bed of the catalyst easy to separate product - heterogenous reaction system
- produces alcohol
addition polymerisation of alkenes
- undergo addition reactions with themselves
- starting compound is a monomer and the product is a polymer
- polymers are represented with square brackets around repeating unit and a subscript n which represents no. of repeating units
- average length of polymer is about 20000 carbons
- monomer ethene → polyethene
- monomer propene →polypropene
reactions of alcohols
- undergo two reactions
- combustion
- oxidation
combustion of alcohols
- used as a fuel
- combustion of alcohol is a type of redox reaction
- OXIDATION: gain of oxygen and loss of hydrogen
- REDUCTION: loss of oxygen and gain of hydrogen
oxidation of alcohols
alcohols can be oxidised by strong inorganic oxidising agents such as acidic solutions of potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) or potassium permanganate (KMnO4)
oxidation of primary alcohols
- can be oxidised to a carboxylic acid in 2 steps
- first oxidised to an aldehyde (intermediate) which is then further oxidised to a carboxylic acid
- to produce an aldehyde
- milder conditions are used
- shorter reaction time
- lower temperatures
- to produce carboxylic acid
- longer reaction times and higher temperatures
- general equations for organic chemistry are not balanced and the formula of the inorganic reactants are written above the arrow
- only organic products are shown
oxidation of secondary alcohols
can be oxidised by strong oxidising agents (H+/Cr2O7^2- and H+/MnO4^-) to form ketones
oxidation of tertiary alcohols
- cannot be oxidised
- carbon attached to hydroxyl group does not have C-H bond to break so oxidation cannot occur at that carbon
reactions of carboxylic acids
- ionisation in water
- condensation reactions which incl
- esterification (condensation)
- formation of amides
ionisation in water - carboxylic acids
- are weak acids and don’t ionise completely
- reaction of carboxylic acid with water is a reversible process
- equilibrium constant is small - so equilibrium position favours the reactants
- only ionises partially in water
esterification
- reaction between carboxylic acid and alcohol produces an ester
- also known as a condensation reaction → combination of 2 creation results in the elimination of a small molecule in this case - H2O molecule
- requires a catalyst (concentrated H2SO4) and heat to speed up the reaction (delta sign)
- also a reversible reaction
- a hydrolytic reaction (hydrolysis)
- as esterification and hydrolytic reaction req diff reaction conditions, we don’t use reversible arrows and write them as separate reactions
carboxylic acids and ammonia
- forms amides
- hydroxyl group swapped with amine group
reaction of esters
undergoes hydrolysis and transesterification