Homolytic and Heterolytic Bond Cleavages | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Homolytic bond cleavage occurs when each atom in the bond takes one electron, while heterolytic bond cleavage occurs when one atom takes both electrons.

Key Insights

• 🫀 Homolytic bond cleavage occurs in radical reactions, while heterolytic bond cleavage occurs in reactions involving more electronegative atoms.
• 💁 Homolytic bond cleavage results in the formation of radicals, while heterolytic bond cleavage leads to the formation of ions.
• 🧑‍🏭 Hydroxide can act as both a nucleophile and a base, depending on the reaction conditions.
• 👊 Heterolytic bond cleavage is common in SN2 reactions, where hydroxide acts as a nucleophile and attacks a partially positive carbon atom.

Transcript

so what's the difference between a homolytic bond cleavage and a heterolytic bond cleavage so if you were to think of the word homolytic what is the prefix homo tell you when you think of homo think of something that's the same the suffix lytic think of the word lysis it means to break apart or split apart now hetero means different so the word kin... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the difference between homolytic and heterolytic bond cleavage?

Homolytic bond cleavage occurs when each atom in the bond takes one electron, while heterolytic bond cleavage occurs when one atom takes both electrons from the bond.

Q: What types of reactions do homolytic bond cleavage typically occur in?

Homolytic bond cleavage is common in radical reactions.

Q: What happens during heterolytic bond cleavage?

In heterolytic bond cleavage, one atom takes both electrons from the bond, resulting in a positive charge on one atom and a negative charge on the other.

Q: How does hydroxide behave in the SN2 reaction?

In the SN2 reaction, hydroxide acts as a nucleophile and attacks the partially positive carbon atom, causing heterolytic bond cleavage.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Homolytic bond cleavage occurs in radical reactions, where each atom takes one electron from the bond.

• Heterolytic bond cleavage occurs when one atom takes both electrons from the bond, resulting in a carbocation and a negative ion.

• Hydroxide can act as a nucleophile in the SN2 reaction or as a base in the deprotonation of an alpha hydrogen.