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This reaction does not depend much on the strength of the nucleophile, unlike the S N 2 mechanism. This type of mechanism involves two steps. The first step is the ionization of alkyl halide in the presence of aqueous acetone or ethyl alcohol. This step provides a carbocation as an intermediate.
When the solvent is also a nucleophile such as dioxane two successive S N 2 reactions take place and the stereochemistry is again retention. With standard S N 1 reaction conditions the reaction outcome is retention via a competing S N i mechanism and not racemization and with pyridine added the result is again inversion. [5] [3]
Aprotic solvents do not add protons (H + ions) into solution; if protons were present in S N 2 reactions, they would react with the nucleophile and severely limit the reaction rate. Since this reaction occurs in one step, steric effects drive the reaction speed. In the intermediate step, the nucleophile is 185 degrees from the leaving group and ...
The quality of stereospecificity is focused on the reactants and their stereochemistry; it is concerned with the products too, but only as they provide evidence of a difference in behavior between reactants. Of stereoisomeric reactants, each behaves in its own specific way. Stereospecificity towards enantiomers is called enantiospecificity.
The transition states for SN1 reactions that showcases tertiary carbons have the lowest transition state energy level in SN1 reactions. A tertiary carbocation will maximize the rate of reaction for an SN1 reaction by producing a stable carbocation. This happens because the rate determining step of a SN1 reaction is the formation of the carbocation.
An example of modest stereoselectivity is the dehydrohalogenation of 2-iodobutane which yields 60% trans-2-butene and 20% cis-2-butene. [5] Since alkene geometric isomers are also classified as diastereomers, this reaction would also be called diastereoselective.
In the second step, the nucleophilic reagent (Nuc:) attaches to the carbocation and forms a covalent sigma bond. If the substrate has a chiral carbon, this mechanism can result in either inversion of the stereochemistry or retention of configuration. Usually, both occur without preference. The result is racemization.
The concept of intimate ion pairs is used to explain the slight tendency for inversion of stereochemistry during an S N 1 reaction. It is proposed that solvent or other ions in solution may assist in the removal of a leaving group to form a carbocation which reacts in an S N 1 fashion; similarly, the leaving group may associate loosely with the ...