Radical reactions are much less common than polar reactions but are nevertheless important in some industrial processes and biological pathways. We’ll look at them in more detail in Sections 10.2 and 10.3 but will briefly see how they occur at this point. A radical…
It takes practice to use curved arrows properly in reaction mechanisms, but there are a few rules and a few common patterns you should look for that will help you become more proficient: RULE 1Electrons move from a nucleophilic source (Nu: or…
Let’s look at a typical polar process—the addition reaction of an alkene, such as ethylene, with hydrogen bromide. When ethylene is treated with HBr at room temperature, bromoethane is produced. Overall, the reaction can be formulated as The reaction is…
Polar reactions occur because of the electrical attraction between positively polarized and negatively polarized centers on functional groups in molecules. To see how these reactions take place, let’s first recall the discussion of polar covalent bonds in Section 2.1 and then look…
Having looked at the kinds of reactions that take place, let’s now see how they occur. An overall description of how a reaction occurs is called a reaction mechanism. A mechanism describes in detail exactly what takes place at each stage…
Organic chemical reactions can be organized broadly in two ways—by what kinds of reactions occur and by how those reactions occur. Let’s look first at the kinds of reactions that take place. There are four general types of organic reactions: additions,…
Figure 6.1 Many chemical reactions are like pole vaulters going over the bar. They need a big, initial push of activation energy. (credit: modification of work “UChicago Pole Vault” by Eric Guo/Flickr, CC BY 2.0) Chapter Contents 6.1 Kinds of Organic Reactions 6.2 How Organic…
In this chapter, we’ve looked at some of the causes and consequences of molecular handedness—a topic of particular importance in understanding biological chemistry. The subject can be a bit complex but is so important that it’s worthwhile spending time to…
The many hundreds of different pharmaceutical agents approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration come from many sources. Many drugs are isolated directly from plants or bacteria, and others are made by chemical modification of naturally occurring…
Although the different enantiomers of a chiral molecule have the same physical properties, they usually have different biological properties. For example, a change in chirality can affect the biological properties of many drugs, such as fluoxetine, a heavily prescribed medication…