- 2072 Magh · 1+1 marks
Solvent favouring SN1; meaning of elimination
Short answer
Polar protic solvents (e.g., water, ethanol) favor SN1 by stabilizing the carbocation and leaving group through solvation. An elimination reaction removes two atoms or groups from adjacent carbons, forming a double bond; dehydrohalogenation is a typical example.
What type of solvent favours the unimolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction mechanism? What is meant by elimination reaction?
Solvent for SN1
Solvent: polar protic solvents (water, ethanol, methanol, formic acid). They stabilise the carbocation and the halide ion by solvation (ion–dipole interaction and hydrogen bonding with the leaving group), which lowers the energy of the transition state of the slow step.
Elimination reaction
An elimination reaction is a reaction in which two atoms or groups are removed from adjacent carbon atoms of a molecule, forming a double (or triple) bond, without being replaced by other groups. Dehydrohalogenation of an alkyl halide is the elimination of H and X (as HX) using a strong base such as alcoholic KOH to form an alkene. Example: CH₃CH₂Br + KOH(alc) → CH₂=CH₂ + KBr + H₂O
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