Haloalkanes and Haloarenes Vocabulary Flashcards

A comprehensive vocabulary review of key terms, reactions, and haloalkane/haloarene derivatives covered in the lecture notes.

Haloalkane (Alkyl halide)

An organic compound formed by replacing hydrogen atom(s) in an aliphatic hydrocarbon with halogen atom(s), where the halogen is attached to an $sp^3$ hybridised carbon atom of an alkyl group.

Haloarene (Aryl halide)

An organic compound formed by replacing hydrogen atom(s) in an aromatic hydrocarbon with halogen atom(s), where the halogen is directly attached to an $sp^2$ hybridised carbon atom of an aryl group.

Chloramphenicol

A chlorine-containing antibiotic produced by microorganisms that is very effective for the treatment of typhoid fever.

Thyroxine

An iodine-containing hormone produced by the human body, the deficiency of which causes a disease called goiter.

Chloroquine

A synthetic halogen compound used for the treatment of malaria.

Halothane

A synthetic halogen compound used as an anaesthetic during surgery.

Allylic halides

Compounds in which the halogen atom is bonded to an $sp^3$ hybridised carbon atom adjacent to a carbon-carbon double bond ($C=C$).

Benzylic halides

Compounds in which the halogen atom is bonded to an $sp^3$ hybridised carbon atom attached to an aromatic ring.

Vinylic halides

Compounds in which the halogen atom is bonded to an $sp^2$ hybridised carbon atom of a carbon-carbon double bond ($C=C$).

Geminal halides (gem-dihalides)

Dihalo-compounds in which both halogen atoms are present on the same carbon atom of the chain.

Vicinal halides (vic-dihalides)

Dihalo-compounds in which halogen atoms are present on adjacent carbon atoms.

Finkelstein reaction

A halogen exchange reaction in which alkyl iodides are prepared by the reaction of alkyl chlorides or bromides with $NaI$ in dry acetone.

Swarts reaction

A halogen exchange reaction used for synthesizing alkyl fluorides by heating an alkyl chloride or bromide in the presence of metallic fluorides such as $AgF$, $Hg_2F_2$, $CoF_2$, or $SbF_3$.

Sandmeyer's reaction

A reaction in which a freshly prepared diazonium salt is mixed with cuprous chloride or cuprous bromide to replace the diazonium group by $-Cl$ or $-Br$.

Ambident nucleophiles

Groups that possess two nucleophilic centres through which they can link to a substrate, such as cyanides and nitrites.

Inversion of configuration

A process occurring in $S_N2$ reactions where the spatial arrangement around the central carbon atom inverts in a manner similar to an umbrella turning inside out.

Retention of configuration

The preservation of the spatial arrangement of bonds to an asymmetric centre during a chemical reaction or transformation.

Optically active compounds

Compounds that rotate the plane of plane polarised light when it is passed through their solutions.

Chirality

The property of an object or molecule of being non-superimposable on its mirror image.

Enantiomers

Stereoisomers that are related to each other as non-superimposable mirror images.

Racemic mixture

A mixture containing two enantiomers in equal proportions, which possesses zero net optical rotation.

Racemisation

The process of conversion of an enantiomer into a racemic mixture.

Zaitsev's rule

A rule stating that in dehydrohalogenation reactions, the preferred product is that alkene which has the greater number of alkyl groups attached to the doubly bonded carbon atoms.

Grignard reagents

Organometallic compounds represented as alkyl magnesium halides ($RMgX$), prepared by reacting haloalkanes with magnesium metal in dry ether.

Wurtz reaction

A reaction in which alkyl halides react with sodium in dry ether to yield hydrocarbons containing double the number of carbon atoms present in the halide.

Wurtz-Fittig reaction

A reaction in which a mixture of an alkyl halide and an aryl halide is treated with sodium in dry ether to form an alkylarene.

Fittig reaction

A reaction in which aryl halides are treated with sodium in dry ether to produce compounds in which two aryl groups are joined together.

Freons

Chlorofluorocarbon compounds of methane and ethane that are extremely stable, unreactive, non-toxic, non-corrosive, and easily liquefiable gases.

DDT

An acronym for $p,p'-$dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, the first chlorinated organic insecticide, discovered to be effective by Paul Muller in 1939.