Hydrolysis of Halogenoalkanes.

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Hydrolysis of Halogenoalkanes

Introduction

Halogenoalkanes are compounds containing a halogen atom (fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine) joined to one or more carbon atoms in a chain. In my experiment only chlorine, bromine or iodine will be used. Due to the fact that the carbon - fluorine bond does not undergo Nucleophilic substitution because it is the strongest of all the carbon - halogen bond. Despite its high polarity, no nucleophile will displace it due to its high bond enthalpy.

The bonds that are formed between the halogen and the carbon atom are polar, this occurs when one of the bonding atoms is more electronegative than the other and the bonding electron pair is drawn towards the more electronegative atom this causes that atom to become slightly negative and the other slightly positive. In this case the halogen becomes slightly negative (-) and the carbon slightly positive (+).

Nucleophilic substitution is when the halogen is substituted by a variety of other groups. When the halogen is substituted it will become a halide ion. This means that the atom that is replacing it must possess a lone-pair of electrons. This lone pair is donated to the positive