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nucleophilic substitution: A nucleophilic reagent replaces an atom or group of atoms in another molecule.
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polar bond: A covalent bond in which the two atoms have different electronegativities leading to an unequal sharing of the bonding pair(s) of electrons.
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primary (prim or 1o): A structural term in organic chemistry to indicate no or just one alkyl/aryl group are attached to the carbon or nitrogen atom of the functional group e.g.
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bromomethane CH3Br and 1-chloropropane CH3CH2CH2Cl are primary halogenoalkanes
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methylamine CH3NH2 and propylamine CH3CH2CH2NH2 are primary aliphatic amines
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methanol CH3OH and butan-1-ol CH3CH2CH2CH2OH are primary alcohols
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CH3+ and CH3CH2CH2+ are primary carbocations
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see also secondary and tertiary for comparison
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propagation step: Type of mechanism step in free radical chain reactions, where a radical reacts with a substrate molecule, but also/only produces another reactive free radical which continues the reaction .e.g.
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CH3. + Cl2 ==> CH3Cl + .Cl (which produces the product in the chlorination of methane AND a reactive chlorine radical)
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RO-CH2-CH2. + CH2=CH2 ==> RO-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2. (in the free radical polymerization of alkenes, a peroxide radical adds to an alkene (1st reactant on left) and this radical adds to another alkene molecule (right product) which is itself a radical and continue reaction building up the polymer chain until terminated!)
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protonation: Adding a proton, H+, to a species e.g.
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quaternary (quat or 4o): The term used to describe the alkylammonium salts formed when nitrogen is bonded to four alkyl groups i.e. all four hydrogens on the ammonium ion are replaced by alkyl groups.
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secondary (sec or 2o): A structural term in organic chemistry to indicate two alkyl/aryl groups are attached to the carbon or nitrogen atom of the functional group e.g.
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2-chloropropane CH3CHClCH3 is a secondary halogenoalkane
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diethylamine (CH3CH2)2NH is a secondary aliphatic amine
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CH3CH+CH3 is a secondary carbocation
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butan-2-ol CH3CH2CHOHCH3 is a secondary alcohol
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see also primary and tertiary for comparison
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shift of electrons: see use of arrows in mechanisms
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SN1: Shorthand for a nucleophilic substitution reaction in which the rate determining step is the formation of carbocation from just one of the reactant molecules or intermediates (X) and the rate is independent any other reactant or intermediate.
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SN2: Shorthand for a nucleophilic substitution reaction in which the rate determining step is a bimolecular collision of two reactant molecules (X and Y) and the rate is independent any other reactant or intermediate.
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stereospecific/stereospecificity: means the change reactants ==> products is dependent in some way on the spatial orientation of at least one of the reactants or intermediates, e.g. in the key-lock mechanism of enzymes, the 'key into lock' interaction, i.e. the stereospecificity of enzymes, partly depends on the spatial orientation of the enzyme's protein structure and the shape of the substrate molecule, particularly from the point of view of bond formation or the inter-molecular force of hydrogen bonding.
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steric hindrance: This means a reaction is inhibited because of some spatial/orientation limitation, e.g. bulky groups attached to an atom/bond that theoretically is susceptible to attack by a particular reagent.
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substitution: When one atom or group of atoms is replaced by another atom or group of atoms. (see mechanism index for lots of examples)
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symmetrical alkene: An alkene in which the groups attached to each carbon of the double bond are identical. (see alkene mechanisms) e.g.
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ethene H2C=CH2 or but-2-ene CH3-CH=CH-CH3
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If an unsymmetrical reagent e.g. HX is added, only one product is formed.
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e.g. CH3-CH2X or CH3-CH2-CHX-CH3 from ethene or but-2-ene.
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termination step : A step in a free radical chain reaction in which two radicals combine to bring that particular 'chain' to a halt.
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tertiary (tert or 3o): A structural term in organic chemistry to indicate three alkyl or aryl groups are attached to the carbon or nitrogen atom of the functional group e.g.
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2-chloro-2-methylpropane (CH3)3CCl is a tertiary halogenoalkane
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trimethylamine (CH3)3N: is a tertiary aliphatic amine
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2-methylpropan-2-ol (CH3)3COH is a tertiary alcohol
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(CH3)2C+CH2CH3 is a tertiary carbocation
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see also primary and secondary for comparison
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transition state: see activated complex above
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'unimolecular' mechanism/kinetics : see SN1
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unsymmetrical alkene: structure and addition to, see non-symmetrical alkene
I hope this page will help with the following GCE-AS-A2-IB Advanced/Subsidiary Level Chemistry syllabuses
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Salters Chemistry: Chemistry 3887/7887 5.3.20 Organic Reaction Mechanisms, unit/module A Atmosphere, PR Polymer Revolution, What's in a Medicine, MD Medicine by Design
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OCR Chemistry: 3882/7882 module 2812 Chains and Rings, 2814 Chains, Rings and Spectroscopy
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Edexcel Chemistry 8080/8090 Topic 2.2 Organic Chemistry I (Introduction, alkanes, alkenes, halogenoalkanes), Topic 4.5 Organic Chemistry II (acids, esters, carbonyl compounds, acid chlorides, nitrogen compounds, and further halogeno-compounds, Topic 5.3 Organic chemistry III (reaction mechanisms and aromatic compounds)
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Nuffield Chemistry: 8086/9086 Unit 1 Introductory Chemistry Topic 2 Alcohols: an introduction to organic chemistry, Unit 2 Bonding and reactions: Topic 8 Organic Chemistry: Hydrocarbons, Topic 10 Halogenoalkanes (haloalkanes), Unit 4 Energy and reactions: Topic 12 Arenes: benzene and phenol
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AQA Chemistry: 5421/6421 Module 3 Introduction to Organic Chemistry/Practical: Chlorination alkanes, alkene reactions, haloalkanes, alcohols; Module 4 Further Physical and Organic Chemistry: aldehydes and ketones reactions, carboxylic acids and esters, acylation, aromatic chemistry, amines
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International Baccalaureate Chemistry: Topic 16 Kinetics: 16.2 Reaction Mechanism; Topic 20 Organic Chemistry: 20.2 Hydrocarbons, 20.3 Nucleophilic substitution reactions, 20.4 Alcohols; Option A Higher Physical Organic Chemistry A.3 Reaction Mechanism, A.4 Nucleophilic substitution reactions; Option E Chemical Industries: Topic E.8 Mechanisms in the Organic Chemicals Industry; Option H Further Organic Chemistry: H.2 Free Radical Substitution Reactions, H.3 Electrophilic Addition Reactions, H.4 Electrophilic Substitution Reactions, H.5 Nucleophilic Addition Reactions, H.6 Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions, H.7 Elimination Reactions, H.8 Addition-elimination Reactions.