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Substitution reactions of alkanes
What you will get through:
Understand the reactions of alkanes with halogens
understand the mechanisms of the free radical substitution reaction between an alkane and a halogen
Understand the reactions of alkanes with halogens
understand the mechanisms of the free radical substitution reaction between an alkane and a halogen
Alkanes undergo two major reactions halogenation (the substitution of a single hydrogen for a halogen) and combustion.
Halogenation
A alkane will react with a halogen when there is enough energy. A hydrogen is substituted for either a fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine.
CH4 + Cl2 + energy → CH3Cl + HCl
The two covalent bonds broken are the C-H and Cl-Cl.
However it's never this simple, every hydrogen on the methane may undergo substitution. So we could get a mixture of halogenalkanes.
CH4 + Cl2 + energy → CH3Cl + HCl
The two covalent bonds broken are the C-H and Cl-Cl.
However it's never this simple, every hydrogen on the methane may undergo substitution. So we could get a mixture of halogenalkanes.
The video below shows a redox reaction however it does show what reacting methane and chlorine will look like.
