1. Alkyl Halides
B.Sc. I
PGGC-11
Chandigarh

2. Alkyl Halides
R-X (X = F, Cl, Br, I)
Classification of alkyl halides according to the class of the carbon that the halogen is attached to.
RCH2-X R2CH-X R3C-X
1o o o

3. Naming Alkyl Halides Find longest chain, name it as parent chain
(Contains double or triple bond if present)
Number from end nearest any substituent (alkyl or halogen)

4. Naming if Two Halides or Alkyl Are Equally Distant from Ends of Chain
Begin at the end nearer the substituent whose name comes first in the alphabet

5. Structure of Alkyl Halides
C-X bond is longer as you go down periodic table
C-X bond is weaker as you go down periodic table
C-X bond is polarized with partial positive charge on carbon and partial negative charge on halogen

6. Preparing Alkyl Halides from Alkanes: Radical Halogenation
Alkane + Cl2 or Br2, heat or light replaces C-H with C-X but gives mixtures
Hard to control
Via free radical mechanism
It is usually not a good idea to plan a synthesis that uses this method—multiple products

7. Preparing Alkyl Halides from Alkenes
Alkyl halide from addition of HCl, HBr, HI to alkenes to give Markovnikov product

8. Preparing Alkyl Halides from Alcohols
Reaction of tertiary C-OH with HX is fast and effective
Add HCl or HBr gas into ether solution of tertiary alcohol
Primary and secondary alcohols react very slowly and often rearrange, so alternative methods are used: SOCl2 or PBr3

9. Preparation of Alkyl Halides from Alcohols and Hydrogen Halides
ROH HX  RX HOH
Hydrogen halide reactivity HI HBr HCl HF most reactive least reactive
Alcohol reactivity R3COH R2CHOH RCH2OH CH3OH Tertiary Secondary Primary Methanol most reactive least reactive 2

10. Physical Properties
Alkyl halides are weak polar molecules. They exhibit dipole-dipole interactions because of their polar C—X bond, but because the rest of the molecule contains only C—C and C—H bonds, they are incapable of intermolecular hydrogen bonding.

12. The Polar Carbon-Halogen Bond
The electronegative halogen atom in alkyl halides creates a polar C—X bond, making the carbon atom electron deficient. Electrostatic potential maps of four simple alkyl halides illustrate this point.
Electrostatic potential maps of four halomethanes(CH3X)

14. General Features of Nucleophilic Substitution
Three components are necessary in any substitution reaction.

15. To draw any nucleophilic substitution product:
Find the sp3 hybridized carbon with the leaving group.
Identify the nucleophile, the species with a lone pair or  bond.
Substitute the nucleophile for the leaving group and assign charges (if necessary) to any atom that is involved in bond breaking or bond formation.

16. The Nucleophile
Nucleophiles and bases are structurally similar: both have a lone pair or a  bond. They differ in what they attack.

19. Mechanisms of Nucleophilic Substitution
In a nucleophilic substitution:
But what is the order of bond making and bond breaking? In theory, there are three possibilities.
[1] Bond making and bond breaking occur at the same time.
In this scenario, the mechanism is comprised of one step. In such a bimolecular reaction, the rate depends upon the concentration of both reactants, that is, the rate equation is second order.

20. Consider reaction [2] below:
Kinetic data show that the rate of reaction [2] depends on the concentration of only the alkyl halide. This suggests a two-step mechanism in which the rate-determining step involves the alkyl halide only. This is an example of an SN1 (substitution nucleophilic unimolecular) mechanism.

21. The mechanism of an SN2 reaction would be drawn as follows.
Note the curved arrow notation that is used to show the flow of electrons.

22. An energy diagram for the SN2 reaction:

23. Stereochemistry
All SN2 reactions proceed with backside attack of the nucleophile, resulting in inversion of configuration at a stereogenic center.
Stereochemistry of the SN2 reaction

24. Methyl and 1° alkyl halides undergo SN2 reactions with ease.
2° Alkyl halides react more slowly.
3° Alkyl halides do not undergo SN2 reactions. This order of reactivity can be explained by steric effects. Steric hindrance caused by bulky R groups makes nucleophilic attack from the backside more difficult, slowing the reaction rate.

26. The mechanism of an SN1 reaction would be drawn as follows: Note the curved arrow formalism that is used to show the flow of electrons.
Key features of the SN1 mechanism are that it has two steps, and carbocations are formed as reactive intermediates.

27. An energy diagram
for the SN1 reaction:

28. Stereochemistry
To understand the stereochemistry of the SN1 reaction, we must examine the geometry of the carbocation intermediate.

29. Loss of the leaving group in Step [1] generates a planar carbocation that is achiral. In Step [2], attack of the nucleophile can occur on either side to afford two products which are a pair of enantiomers.
Because there is no preference for nucleophilic attack from either direction, an equal amount of the two enantiomers is formed—a racemic mixture. We say that racemization has occurred.

30. The rate of an SN1 reaction is affected by the type of alkyl halide involved.
This trend is exactly opposite to that observed in SN2 reactions.

32. Predicting the Likely Mechanism of a Substitution Reaction.
Four factors are relevant in predicting whether a given reaction is likely to proceed by an SN1 or an SN2 reaction—The most important is the identity of the alkyl halide.

33. The nature of the nucleophile is another factor.
Strong nucleophiles (which usually bear a negative charge) present in high concentrations favor SN2 reactions.
Weak nucleophiles, such as H2O and ROH favor SN1 reactions by decreasing the rate of any competing SN2 reaction.
Let us compare the substitution products formed when the 2° alkyl halide A is treated with either the strong nucleophile HO¯ or the weak nucleophile H2O. Because a 2° alkyl halide can react by either mechanism, the strength of the nucleophile determines which mechanism takes place.

34. The strong nucleophile favors an SN2 mechanism.
The weak nucleophile favors an SN1 mechanism.

35. A better leaving group increases the rate of both SN1 and SN2 reactions.

36. The nature of the solvent is a fourth factor.
Polar protic solvents like H2O and ROH favor SN1 reactions because the ionic intermediates (both cations and anions) are stabilized by solvation.
Polar aprotic solvents favor SN2 reactions because nucleophiles are not well solvated, and therefore, are more nucleophilic.