Which reaction mechanism is primarily involved in the addition of H2 across an alkene?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
Which reaction mechanism is primarily involved in the addition of H2 across an alkene?
Electrophilic addition
Nucleophilic substitution
Radical substitution
Elimination
The addition of H2 to an alkene is an electrophilic addition reaction.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: Which reaction mechanism is primarily involved in the addition of H2 across an alkene?
Solution: The addition of H2 to an alkene is an electrophilic addition reaction.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand that an alkene is a type of hydrocarbon that has a double bond between two carbon atoms.
Step 2: Recognize that the addition of H2 (hydrogen gas) to an alkene involves breaking the double bond.
Step 3: Identify that this process is called an 'addition reaction' because new atoms (H2) are added to the molecule.
Step 4: Learn that the specific type of addition reaction occurring here is called 'electrophilic addition.'
Step 5: Conclude that in electrophilic addition, the alkene acts as a nucleophile (electron-rich) and reacts with an electrophile (electron-poor), which in this case is the hydrogen.
