What is nucleophilic substitution reaction?

Applying the three key terms, the above substitution reaction can be summarized as: the nucleophile displaces the leaving group in a substrate, so such reaction is called nucleophilic substitution reaction. Nucleophilic substitution reaction could therefore be shown in a more general way:

What is a substitution reaction?

s ubstitution reactions involve the replacement of one atom or group (X) by another (Y): We already have described one very important type of substitution reaction, the halogenation of alkanes (Section 4-4), in which a hydrogen atom is re- placed by a halogen atom (X = H, Y = halogen).

What happens if a nucleophile does not leave a leaving group?

The leaving group (LG) leaves with the bonding pair of electrons, and is replaced by the nucleophile in the substitution reaction. Without a proper leaving group, even nucleophile is attracted to electrophile, the substitution reaction still cannot move forward.

How does the solvent affect the reactivity of a nucleophile?

With regard to S,2 reactions, the solvent can affect profoundly the reactivity of a given nucleophile. Thus anions such as ClOand CN@, which are weakly nucleophilic in hydroxylic solvents and in poor ionizing solvents such as 2-propanone (acetone), become very significantly nucleophilic in polar aprotic solvents such as (CH,),SO.