Basic concepts of organic reactions

Basic concepts of organic reactions

Introduction

A chemical reaction can be treated as a process by which some existing bonds in the reacting molecules are broken and new bonds are formed. i.e., in a chemical reaction, a reactant is converted into a product. This conversion involves one or more steps. A In general an organic reaction can be represented as

Substrate + Reagent →  [Intermediate state (and/or) Transition State] → Product

Here the substrate is an organic molecule which undergoes chemical change. The reagent which may be an organic, inorganic or any agent like heat, photons etc., that brings about the chemical change

Many chemical reactions are depicted in one or more simple steps. Each step passes through an energy barrier, leading to the formation of short lived intermediates or transition states. The series of simple steps which collectively represent the chemical change, from substrate to product is called as the mechanism of the reaction. The slowest step in the mechanism determines the overall rate of the reaction.

Fundamental concepts in organic reaction mechanism

The mechanism is the theoretical pathway which describes the changes occurring in each step during the course of the chemical change. An organic reaction can be understood by following the direction of flow of electrons and the type of intermediate formed during the course of the reaction. The direction of flow of electron is represented by curved arrow. The movement of a pair of electron is represented by a double headed arrow which starts from the negative and ends with the atom to which the electrons needs to be transferred.