Why Chemical Reactions HappenBy tackling the most central ideas in chemistry, Why Chemical Reactions Happen provides the reader with all the tools and concepts needed to think like a chemist. The text takes a unified approach to the subject, aiming to help the reader develop a real overview of chemical processes, by avoiding the traditional divisions of physical, inorganic and organic chemistry. To understand how chemical reactions happen we need to know about the bonding in molecules, how molecules interact, what determines whether an interaction is favourable or not, and what the outcome will be. Answering these questions requires an understanding of topics from quantum mechanics, through thermodynamics, to "curly arrows". In this book all of these topics are presented in a coherent and coordinated fashion, showing how each leads to a deeper understanding of chemical reactions. |
Contents
1 What this book is about and who should read it | 1 |
2 What makes a reaction go? | 5 |
3 Ionic interactions | 20 |
4 Electrons in atoms | 35 |
5 Electrons in simple molecules | 60 |
6 Electrons in larger molecules | 80 |
7 Reactions | 97 |
8 Equilibrium | 113 |
Common terms and phrases
2c-2e bonds 2p orbitals acid activation energy acyl chloride amide anti-bonding MO atoms attack Bohr radii bond length bonding MO bromomethane carbenium ion carbonyl cation conjugation decrease delocalized dissociation effective nuclear charge electron density electronegative endothermic energy profile enolate enthalpy entropy entropy change equilibrium constant ethanoyl chloride example exothermic favourable fluorine formation Gibbs energy give H Fig H H H HAOs HOMO hydrogen bonding hydroxide increase interaction involved ketone kJ mol-1 lattice energy leaving group lithium lone pair lower in energy lowest energy LUMO MO diagram molecule negative charge nitrogen nodal plane nucleophile nucleus overlap oxygen polar position of equilibrium positive charge propene proton quantum number radial node rate constant rate law reactants reaction Second Law shown in Fig shows simply solvation solvent sp2 hybrids stabilized structure Surface plots t-butyl bromide temperature tetrahedral intermediate wavefunction ΔΗ