BRAINCAKEReactivity of Halogenoalkanes
Halogenoalkanes react when a nucleophile attacks the δ+ carbon and the C-X bond breaks. Two factors could affect how fast this happens.
1. Bond polarity: fluorine is the most electronegative halogen, so C-F is the most polar bond and its carbon is the most δ+. If polarity controlled the rate, fluoroalkanes would react fastest and iodoalkanes slowest.
2. Bond enthalpy: the C-X bond must break. Going down the group the halogen atom gets bigger, the bond gets longer and weaker:
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Key terms in this lesson
- mean bond enthalpy
- The average energy needed to break one mole of a particular covalent bond, measured over a range of compounds, with all species gaseous.
More in Halogenoalkanes
- Halogenoalkanes
- Naming Halogenoalkanes
- Classifying Halogenoalkanes
- Hydrolysis Reactions
- Comparing the Rates of Hydrolysis
- Nucleophilic Substitution
- Reaction with Alkali
- Reaction with Aqueous Alkali
All 11 lessons in Halogenoalkanes · All Edexcel AS-level Chemistry topics