Nucleophile Prostitution Reactions

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This experiment focuses on the SN2 nucleophile substitution reaction of converting 1-butanol (an alcohol) to 1-bromobutane (an alkyl halide). There are two types of substitution mechanisms that could be used, SN1 and SN2. SN1 mechanisms take place in two steps. The first rate-determining step is the ionization of the molecule. This mechanism is called unimolecular because its rate is only dependent on the concentration of the leaving group. The second step is the fast, exothermic nucleophile addition. In an SN2 reaction the leaving group leaves as the nucleophile attacks all in one step. Because this happens at one time, the nucleophile must attack from the opposite side from which the leaving group is leaving. For this reason, SN2 reactions …show more content…

There is another type of mechanism called an elimination mechanism that is competing with the substitution mechanisms to attack the molecules. There are two types of elimination reactions, E1 and E2. E1 and SN1 mechanisms compete with each other as E2 and SN2 mechanisms compete with each other. To ensure that our experiment favors the substitution reaction, an environment must be created in which the leaving group, H2O, is a weak base and the nucleophile, bromine, has strong polarity. This is obtained in this experiment by adding sulfuric acid to the reacting solution. Sulfuric acid not only donates protons but also acts as a dehydrating catalyst to push the reaction more toward the products. Without sulfuric acid …show more content…

The IR machine was cleaned between uses to reduce contaminated data. The final product was run through the IR spectroscopy to measure the amount of light absorbed and compare it to a graph of pure 1-bromobutane to determine if it is the actual final product obtained. This comparison also shows any impurities in the final product. The graphs were similar but not perfect, implying that an impure product of 1-bromobutane was obtained. To identify the functional group of the molecule, the frequency range of the light absorption patterns was observed. Different functional groups are excited at different unique ranges between 4,000-1,250 cm^-1. The C-H axis could be found in this range. The structure of the molecule is determined by looking at a fingerprint region (1,250-500 cm^-1). The C-Br axis should be visible in this range but the IR machine was not sensitive enough. The fingerprint region is unique to each compound and helps determine things such as stereochemistry. It is important to add sodium sulfate to the product before running it through the IR. This will remove OH from the product so that it will not show up in the spectroscopy. There should be no peaks at OH after the test. My sample for this experiment had to be run through the IR spectroscopy twice because the first time had a significant OH peak. Adding more sodium sulfate to the solution and running the IR again eliminated

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