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Oraganic Chemistry: Reaction Mechanisms

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* What would happen to the rate of Sn2 reaction if the solvent was changed from acetone to water?

* How do E1 and E2 mechanisms depend on the properties of a base?

* What is the difference between polar protic solvent and polar aprotic solvents and how do they determine if a reaction is going to be sn1, sn2,E1 or E2

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What would happen to the rate of Sn2 reaction if the solvent was changed from acetone to water?
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Acetone is a polar aprotic solvent (lacks the ability to for hydrogen bonds). In contrast water is a polar protic solvent (forms hydrogen bonds).
In order to assess the impact of a solvent on the rate of an SN2 reaction (or SN1, E1,E2 elimination for that matter) it is important to consider solvent interactions with the reactants as well as the transition state complex
Polar aprotic solvents (including acetonitrile, acetone, dimethylformamide, etc.) are effective at solvating cations (through dipole-dipole interactions) but ...

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