Organic Reactions By Mechanism
There is no limit to the number of possible organic reactions and mechanisms. However, certain general patterns are observed that can be used to describe many common or useful reactions. Each reaction has a stepwise reaction mechanism that explains how it happens, although this detailed description of steps is not always clear from a list of reactants alone. Organic reactions can be organized into several basic types. Some reactions fit into more than one category. For example, some substitution reactions follow an addition-elimination pathway. This overview isn't intended to include every single organic reaction. Rather, it is intended to cover the basic reactions.
| Reaction type | Subtype | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Addition reactions | electrophilic addition | include such reactions as halogenation, hydrohalogenation and hydration. |
| nucleophilic addition | ||
| radical addition | ||
| Elimination reaction | include processes such as dehydration and are found to follow an E1, E2 or E1cB reaction mechanism | |
| Substitution reactions | nucleophilic aliphatic substitution | with SN1, SN2 and SNi reaction mechanisms |
| nucleophilic aromatic substitution | ||
| nucleophilic acyl substitution | ||
| electrophilic substitution | ||
| electrophilic aromatic substitution | ||
| radical substitution | ||
| Organic redox reactions | are redox reactions specific to organic compounds and are very common. | |
| Rearrangement reactions | 1,2-rearrangements | |
| pericyclic reactions | ||
| metathesis |
In Condensation reactions a small molecule, usually water, is split off when two reactants combine in a chemical reaction. The opposite reaction, when water is consumed in a reaction, is called hydrolysis. Many Polymerization reactions are derived from organic reactions. They are divided into addition polymerizations and step-growth polymerizations.
In general the stepwise progression of reaction mechanisms can be represented using arrow pushing techniques in which curved arrows are used to track the movement of electrons as starting materials transition to intermediates and products.
Read more about this topic: Organic Reaction
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