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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Why are free radicals so reactive?
Why are free radicals are so reactive? They can break almost any bond, including $\ce{C-H}$ bonds, which are fairly stable. Don’t they have an activation energy or something? Do they not also ...
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Why are silyl chlorides more readily hydrolysed than alkyl chlorides?
I know that the $\ce{Si-Cl}$ bond has a slightly higher energy, but silyl chlorides are much more readily hydrolyzed compared to alkyl chlorides. I do not fully understand why that is. My thoughts so ...
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Oxidation Reactions/Reactivity of Manganese Metal in Air and Water
I am planning on doing some reactions that lead to Manganese metal and a neutral solution containing $\ce{Mn^{2+}}$ as by-products, and I wanted to try some things out with the Manganese as well.
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Reactivity of Benzaldehyde between aldehydes [closed]
Are Benzaldehydes less reactive than aldehydes due to the -R Effect of the -CHO group present on the benzene ring?
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Why is caesium considered the most reactive element and not fluorine? [closed]
Some people say caesium is most reactive element. I thought it to be fluorine as it is the element that reacts with almost all elements (except couple of inert gases). But caesium won't react many of ...
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How does ammonium nitrate explode on its own?
I thought ammonium nitrate was an oxidizer that needed to be mixed with fuel to form a high explosive (e.g., ANFO). But apparently there have been accidental explosions involving just the "...
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If aliens lived in a hydrogen (or any flammable gas) based atmosphere, would they perceive oxygen to be flammable?
Energy, fuel, and oxygen are needed for a fire to burn. In a hydrogen chamber, if there was a pipe spewing small amounts of oxygen, could you light the oxygen on fire as it began to mix with the ...
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Why is a ketone more nucleophilic than an ester?
I guess the ester is a weaker nucleophile because it does have an additional oxygen atom, unlike the ketone, that is pulling electrons from the C-O double bond towards the carbon atom (this happens ...
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Is there a way to contain fluorine gas for long term so that it can be visually observed?
Bromine, chlorine and iodine can all be sealed in a glass container for display without the elements reacting with the glass.
But if you try to seal fluorine in glass I believe it will react and fog ...
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Does an acetal give a positive Tollens test?
In Organic Chemistry (Wade) there is a question:
Which of the following compounds would give a positive Tollens' test? (Remember that the Tollens' test involves mild basic aqueous conditions.)
The ...
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Why is phenyl weakly activating?
The susceptibility of a benzene ring to electrophilic attack depends on the type and number of groups bonded to the ring.
Activating groups donate/release electrons and increase the electron density ...
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Which electronic effects are responsible for the reduction of nucleophilicity of a hydroxy group orthogonal to an ester?
I am facing a similar synthetic problem as Boekman Jr. et al noted in their synthesis of Tetronolide.[1] I will quote their’s rather than disclosing my actual synthetic problem, but note that the key ...
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Silver Tarnish and Reactivity Series
I read that silver in the presence of hydrogen sulfide corrodes to form silver sulfide and hydrogen.
$$\ce{Ag + H2S -> Ag2S + H2}$$
But in the reactivity series silver is placed much below hydrogen....
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How can I relate the reactivity series to electronegativity and ionization energy?
I am trying to figure out how the reactivity series comes about. My understanding is that elements with a higher electronegativity will be more reactive than elements with a lower electronegativity, ...
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What does nutella add to the Coke+Mentos reaction?
Inspired by this question on SFF.SE.
The Diet Coke + Mentos experiment has been a popular one for a while now, and I've read a little bit about the science behind it.
I recently discovered this ...