What are the differences in the reactivity of #"bromoethane"#, and #"2-bromopentane"#?

1 Answer
anor277
Dec 14, 2016

Well, #"bromoethane"# should be more reactive for a reaction with a associative mechanism...........

Explanation:

And #"2-bromopentane"# should be more reactive in a dissociative scenario.

So bromoethane should be liable to undergo reaction with, say, #NaOH#, in an #S_N2# mechanism, to form ethyl alcohol and sodium bromide. Under the same conditions, #"2-bromopentane"# might be liable to undergo elimination to give #"2-pentylene"#.

The truth is I actually don't know.

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