These reactions are concerted reactions that take place in a single step. This means that there are no intermediates or carbocations that are formed. In SN2 reactions, there are high energy transition states. An SN2 transition state has a planar arrangement of the carbon atom and the remaining groups. Also in this state bonds are either breaking or forming. During this state the molecule has a delta negative charge on the partially formed bond between carbon and the nucleophile and the partially formed bond between carbon and the leaving group. Delta positive and delta negative charges involve electronegativity. Electronegativity describes how much an atom wants to attract or pull electrons for itself. When a very electronegative atom is bonded to an atom that is not very electronegative, that very electronegative atom pulls the electrons toward it. This creates the delta negative charge on the atom that is pulling the electrons towards it and a delta positive charge on the atom that is having electron being pulled away from it. A nucleophile is an atom or molecule that wants to donate a pair of electrons. An electrophile is an atom or molecule that wants to accept a pair of electrons. Leaving groups are the atom or ion that leaves the alkyl halide during the SN2 reaction. Protic solvents are solvents that contain an “OH” or “NH” group. They are not very effective in SN2 …show more content…
If the room is too cold, it could potentially slow down the reaction and if the room is too hot it could potentially speed up the reaction. This would have an effect on whether or not a precipitate forms. Another way to improve this experiment would be to use a different solvent. If another solvent was used, like a protic solvent, it could slow the rate of the reaction and it could lower the ground state energy of the nucleophile. By doing that it could reduce the ability of the nucleophile to go to the electrophile and could ultimately prevent a precipitate from forming. Changing the concentration of the sodium iodide is another way to improve this experiment. By changing the concentration of the sodium iodide to a higher concentration, this could affect how well the iodide attacks the electrophile. The more concentrated it is, the more likely it is to attack the nucleophile faster. The last way to improve this experiment would be to perform UV spectroscopy on the precipitates. The UV light can truly show whether a precipitated formed or not. A practical use for SN2 reactions would be to replace the halide on the alkyl halide with a new functional group. This could be done by reacting the alkyl halide in lab with the ideal