Question

For the following bond cleavages, use curved-arrows to show the electron flow and classify each as homolysis or heterolysis. Identify reactive intermediate produced as free radical, carbocation and carbanion.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Answer 1

(a) The bond cleavage using curved-arrows to show the electron flow of the given reaction can be represented as

It is an example of homolytic cleavage as one of the shared pair in a covalent bond goes with the bonded atom. The reaction intermediate formed is a free radical.

(b) The bond cleavage using curved-arrows to show the electron flow of the given reaction can be represented as

It is an example of heterolytic cleavage as the bond breaks in such a manner that the shared pair of electrons remains with the carbon of propanone. The reaction intermediate formed is carbanion.

(c) The bond cleavage using curved-arrows to show the electron flow of the given reaction can be represented as

It is an example of heterolytic cleavage as the bond breaks in such a manner that the shared pair of electrons remains with the bromine ion. The reaction intermediate formed is a carbocation.

(d) The bond cleavage using curved-arrows to show the electron flow of the given reaction can be represented as

It is a heterolytic cleavage as the bond breaks in such a manner that the shared pair of electrons remains with one of the fragments. The intermediate formed is a carbocation.