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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.

49 votes
3 answers
80k views

How can I predict if a reaction will occur between any two (or more) substances?

I am new to chemistry and I find it fascinating. I am trying to learn about chemical reactions and I was wondering if there was an easy way to quickly tell if any combination of chemical substances ...
Ben Norris's user avatar
28 votes
3 answers
60k views

Rationalising the order of reactivity of carbonyl compounds towards nucleophiles

This is immediately following ron's answer from Why is a ketone more nucleophilic than an ester? One of the most simplest questions you can ask, how can you rationalise the order of reactivity ...
Martin - マーチン's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
65k views

Why doesn't copper react with hydrochloric acid while the other metals do?

5) Which one of the following metals does not react with hydrochloric acid? A. zinc B. magnesium C. iron D. copper E. aluminium The right answer must be copper, but why ...
Adam's user avatar
  • 849
22 votes
4 answers
8k views

Why do Organolithium or Grignard reagents act as nucleophiles and not as bases with aldehydes and ketones

I've read entire Chapter 14: Organometallic Compounds of Francis Carey's "Organic Chemistry" but I still didn't get an answer to my question. Quote from the book: Because of their basicity ...
claws's user avatar
  • 963
16 votes
3 answers
42k views

Friedel–Crafts reaction of phenol

Does phenol undergo Friedel–Crafts reactions or does it react with Lewis acids like aniline does?
user63762453's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
22k views

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?
user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
15k views

What determines whether a double displacement reaction will occur?

In normal displacement reactions, reactivity plays a large role and sometimes the reaction doesn't even happen. So is there anything limiting double displacement reactions? For example $\ce{2KI + Pb(...
Airdish's user avatar
  • 441
41 votes
2 answers
52k views

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 ...
Darren Cook's user avatar
16 votes
6 answers
15k views

Will bridged compounds the undergo SN1 reaction?

$\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{N}}1$ reaction involves only one molecule in the rate determining step. So, the molecule which undergoes $\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{N}}1$ reaction should be stable when it forms a ...
Rajath Radhakrishnan's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
7k views

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 ...
user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
9k views

Why do the trends in reactivity not apply for francium?

Why is francium not included in the reactivity series? Why is potassium considered more reactive than francium? I know that reactivity increases down the group, but why does it not apply here?
kusum's user avatar
  • 89
7 votes
2 answers
16k views

Order of electrophilic substitution

What will be the order of reactivity towards electrophilic substitution in case of the following compounds: benzene, ethyl benzene, isopropyl benzene, tert-butyl benzene The answer at the end of the ...
Dhruba Banerjee's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
6k views

Why do Grignard reagents or Organolithium compounds not displace halides as easily as acetylide ions do?

This is a snapshot from LG Wade Organic Chemistry. I have a doubt with a particular statement in the book. It says that Grignard reagents do not displace halides as easily as acetylide ions do. But ...
user avatar
19 votes
3 answers
24k views

Why is a hydroxyl group more activating than a methoxy group in electrophilic aromatic substitution?

Why is phenol more reactive towards electrophilic substitution than methoxybenzene? Isn't the lone pair on the methoxy group oxygen more available for participating in resonance into the ring than the ...
Dhruba Banerjee's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
18k views

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 ...
Nick's user avatar
  • 442

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