Questions tagged [reactivity]
Applied to a chemical species, the term expresses a kinetic property in reference to another species. The tag should be applied to questions seeking answers with respect to the reactivity (or unreactivity) of a certain chemical compound, species, molecular entity and/or functional groups. It must not be applied to questions about the stability of certain chemical species.
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How can the iron in the reaction of iron (ii) chloride and zinc not go to zero oxidation state?
I know that the zinc half equation would be
$\ce{Zn -> Zn^{2+} + 2e-}$.
However I am confused about the half equation for iron. I would think that since iron is completely displaced, its oxidation ...
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Why is zinc more reactive than copper?
In terms of electronegativity, from what I understand electronegativity increases going across the period, so surely this should mean that zinc less readily loses its outer shell electrons than copper?...
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How do we know whether we will get a mono substituted or tri-substituted product during electrophilic aromatic substitution?
For example consider the bromination of phenol we get the tri-substituted product (even though bromine is deactivating so I suppose it should deactivate the ring with each addition) while sulphonation ...
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What is a barrier-less reaction in Quantum Chemistry?
After finding a reaction "Transitional State" by GAMESS, and finding Hessian Eigenvalues, my project instructor said:
seems your imaginary frequency (negative eigenvalue) is not that big (it is ...
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Why does potassium form peroxides but sodium does not?
As we go down the periodic table, Group 1 alkali metals hold their single outer valence electron more loosely, and so reactivity increases. Below potassium (Na, Li), we can store the metal in oil with ...
user467
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How does HF dissolve glass?
By what mechanism does HF proceed in dissolving glass? Why is it the only acid that has this capability? Is it because of the small size and high electronegativity of fluorine?
user10153
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Why does superglue ignite cotton?
Cotton is mostly cellulose, a plant saccharide. Superglue refers to a class of cyanoacrylates. What is it about the two that causes ignition?
I'd imagine that the cellulose in cotton is in its ...
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How are reactivity and dipole moment related?
Recently, I came across a question: which of the two compounds has a greater reactivity; $\ce{NH_{3}}$ or $\ce{NF_{3}}$?
It is known that despite the same structure the dipole moment of $\ce{NH_{3}}$...
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Do Grignard reagents react with amides?
Clearly the amide will be unreactive given the poor quality of the leaving group and poor electrophilcity due to delocalization. However, does it react with organolithiums for example?
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Why is the iodide anion a good nucleophile but a poor base?
The $\mathrm{pK_{aH}}$ of $\ce I^-$ is very low which indicated that it is not favourable for it to bond with a proton. However, why would it be likely to bond with any other atom (mostly carbon when ...
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Grignard reagents react with epoxides but dissolve in THF, what happens in oxetane (four membered ether ring)?
Ring strain causes the epoxides to react and THF does not react because the ring strain is not large enough. Does the four membered ring react or not? Does it favor reaction with the harder or softer ...
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What makes R-MgX a more reactive Grignard reagent than R-Cu?
What makes $\ce{R-MgX}$ a more reactive Grignard reagent than $\ce{R-Cu}$? Has it to do with solvation, bond enthalpy, electronegativity?
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Why do Grignard reagents react with epoxides but not THF?
THF is used as a solvent for Grignard reagents, but epoxides react with Grignard reagents. There is only a small difference between epoxides and THF, what causes the difference in reactivity towards ...
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Why is gold unreactive when only one electron is in the outer shell?
I've been trying to answer my (high school) daughter's questions about the periodic table, and the reactivity series, but we keep hitting gaps in my knowledge.
So I showed that the noble gases have a ...
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Why does N₂ react with O₂ to Form NO at high temperatures?
This also raises questions that I have about the Haber Process which produces ammonia ($\ce{NH3}$) from molecular nitrogen ($\ce{N2}$) and hydrogen ($\ce{H2}$).
I have heard multiple times that bond ...
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