Chemistry · Ch 14 — Haloalkanes and Haloarenes
Introduction
Introduction
The previous unit built up the chemistry of hydrocarbons -- compounds of carbon and hydrogen alone. This unit asks what happens when one or more of those hydrogens is swapped out for a halogen atom instead, and why that single substitution opens up an entire new branch of organic synthesis.
What this unit sets out to do. By the end of it you should be able to:
- classify the various organic halogen compounds, and name them by the IUPAC system;
- recognise the nature of the carbon-halogen (C-X) bond;
- describe the general methods used to prepare haloalkanes and haloarenes;
- explain the physical and chemical properties of haloalkanes and haloarenes;
- describe the mechanism of nucleophilic substitution and elimination reactions of halo-organic compounds;
- explain the preparation and synthetic uses of Grignard reagents;
- highlight the uses of polyhalogen compounds, and comprehend their environmental effects.
Note
Francois Auguste Victor Grignard, who this unit's Grignard reagents are named after, actually trained in mathematics before switching to organic chemistry -- his search for a catalyst for a methylation reaction led him instead to organomagnesium compounds, work that won him the 1912 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.