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Electrophilic substitution

physical science Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Chemicals can change in many ways. One way is called electrophilic substitution. In this reaction, an electrophile takes the place of a group. This group is often called a functional group. This process helps make new chemical compounds. It is a very common way for things to change.

Some chemicals have a ring shape. These are called aromatic compounds. In these rings, a part like hydrogen is replaced. An electrophile moves in to take that spot. This is a common way to add new groups to benzene rings. This process is called electrophilic aromatic substitution.

There are several ways this happens in rings. One way is called aromatic nitration. Another way is called aromatic halogenation. You might also see aromatic sulfonation. There is also acylation. Finally, Friedel-Crafts reactions are very important. These include alkylation and acylation.

Other chemicals do not have rings. These are called aliphatic compounds. They can also swap parts. This is called electrophilic aliphatic substitution. There are four ways this works. These are SE1, SE2(front), SE2(back), and SEi. The SE1 way starts with ionization. This creates a carbanion and a positive residue.

In the SE2 way, things happen differently. There is a single transition state. In this state, the old bond and new bond exist at once. Some examples include nitrosation and ketone halogenation. You might also see keto-enol tautomerism. Other examples are aliphatic diazonium coupling and carbene insertion.

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