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Electron donating groups are generally ortho/para directors for electrophilic aromatic substitutions, while electron withdrawing groups (except the halogens) are generally meta directors. The selectivities observed with EDGs and EWGs were first described in 1892 and have been known as the Crum Brown–Gibson rule.
The halogen atoms in an alkyl halide are electron withdrawing while the alkyl groups have electron donating tendencies. If the electronegative atom (missing an electron, thus having a positive charge) is then joined to a chain of atoms , typically carbon , the positive charge is relayed to the other atoms in the chain.
Electron-withdrawing groups exert an "inductive" or "electron-pulling" effect on covalent bonds. The strength of the electron-withdrawing group is inversely proportional to the pKa of the carboxylic acid. [2] The inductive effect is cumulative: trichloroacetic acid is 1000x stronger than chloroacetic acid.
Additionally, since the substituted carbon is already electron-poor, any structure having a resonance contributor in which there is a positive charge on the carbon bearing the electron-withdrawing group (i.e., ortho or para attack) is less stable than the others.
The +M effect, also known as the positive mesomeric effect, occurs when the substituent is an electron donating group. The group must have one of two things: a lone pair of electrons, or a negative charge. In the +M effect, the pi electrons are transferred from the group towards the conjugate system, increasing the density of the system.
When this center is an electron rich carbanion or an alkoxide anion, the presence of the electron-withdrawing substituent has a stabilizing effect. Similarly, an electron-releasing group (ERG) or electron-donating group (EDG) releases electrons into a reaction center and as such stabilizes electron deficient carbocations.
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For meta-directing groups (electron withdrawing group or EWG), σ meta and σ para are more positive than σ’. (The superscript, c, in table denotes data from Hammett, 1940. [11] [page needed]) For ortho-para directing groups (electron donating group or EDG), σ’ more positive than σ meta and σ para.