Some of the Halogenation elements are Bromine, Fluorine, Chlorine and Iodine. The important methods of Halogenation are bromination and chlorination. This is used in the industry to make some of the products like myriad, some commercial products, medical products and many more.
Types of Halogenation
Halogenations are a type of chemical reaction where the hydrogen atoms are replaced by the halogen atoms. So in between the halogenation elements, fluorine is the most reactive element and can react aggressively with the organic material. Iodine is the most difficult element to add to an organic molecule, but when added with a molecule, it can be removed easily. Halogenation can happen by several methods, and it depends upon the substrate.
Halogenation reactions are very useful and have a broad opportunity in synthesis chemistry. One example of this reaction is the addition of bromine to ethane.
This reaction is very much energetic and can be exposed to moisture and air.
Mechanism
In the methane series molecule, the carbon‐hydrogen bonds are valency bonds. The grouping molecule includes a non-ionic chemical bond. Ultraviolet light contains adequate energy to interrupt the weaker non-ionic bond. However, its short energy prevents the stronger carbon‐hydrogen bond. The fracture of the halogen molecule ends up in the formation of 2 extremely reactive halogen free radicals. A free radical is a type of atom which is an electron that no one shares.
The damaged bond is alleged to split in a homolytic fashion; that’s, every of the originally guaranteed atoms receives one electron. This first reaction is termed the initiation step of the mechanism. The halogen-free radicals are full of energy and react quickly to finish their octets and liberate energy. Once the high‐energy halogen free radicals are fashioned, the energy supply may be removed. The energy liberated within the reaction of the free radicals with alternative atoms is adequate to keep the reaction running.
When a halogen atom approaches a methane series molecule, homolytic fission of a carbon‐hydrogen bond happens. The halogen atom combines with the liberated H atom to make acid and an alkyl group atom. This is often referred to as a propagation step, a step within which each product and a reactive species that keeps the reaction going are formed.
Importance of Halogenation
The Halogenation reaction is vital in the chemical synthesis, and the products generated by the reactions are heavily used in the plastic, medical, fire retardants, agricultural products and refrigerants.
Types of Halogenation:
There are several methods for the halogenation reaction. But it is of 3 types.
- Free radical Halogenation
- Electrophilic halogenation
- Additional reaction
Free radical Halogenation
The halogenation of saturated hydrocarbons is a substitute reaction. This reaction generally needs a free radical pathway. The halogenation of alkenes is mostly set by the relative weakness of the Carbon and hydrogen bond. In this process, it does not add halogen.
An important point to jot down is that the intermediates are extremely reactive and short-lived. Typically, you acquire a mix of products, albeit there’s a preference for forming additional extremely substituted atom intermediates. During this example with isobutane, there will surely be some abstraction of hydrogens hooked up to the first carbons, resulting in a distinct product than the one on top of the product.
Electrophilic Halogenation
In the field of Organic chemistry, electrophilic halogenation is a type of electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction. This reaction is typically an aromatic compound and is vital for adding substituents to an aromatic compound. This is a very useful method.
The first phase of the halogenation of the aromatic compound slightly differs from the halogenation of alkenes.
Addition reaction
Halogens can charge on a double bond in alkenes as they can act as an electrophile. As a group molecule, for instance, Br2, approaches a covalent bond of the alkenes, electrons within the covalent bond repel electrons in element molecules inflicting polarisation of the group bond. This creates a dipolar moment within the group molecule bond. Heterolytic bond cleavage happens, and one in each of the halogens obtains an electric charge and reacts as an electrophile. The reaction of the addition isn’t regionally. The mechanism of the reaction will explain the stereochemistry of this addition. In the initiative, the electrophilic group with an electric charge approaches the double carbon bond and a pair of p orbital of the group, bond with two carbon atoms and make a cyclic particle with a group because of the intermediate step. Within the second step, a group with the electric charge attacks any of the two carbons within the cyclic particle from the rear facet of the cycle as within the SN2 reaction.
Conclusion
Halogenation is the replacement of hydrogen atoms with halogen atoms. We also discussed its mechanism and its types. The halogenation reactions are important and are used to produce some daily-use products and some industrial products. Halogenation reactions occur both in bulk and in fine chemical synthesis. The products and intermediates produced by halogenation find application in pharmaceuticals, polymers and plastics, refrigerants, fuel additives, fire retardants and agro products. In medicines, adding fluorine or chlorine atoms to a molecule can boost its medicinal potential.