Name and draw the mechanism by which benzene reacts with ethanoyl chloride in the presence of a catalyst. Also explain why benzene undergoes a substitution reaction, rather than an addition reaction.
Electrophilic substitution. (drawn) AlCl3 + CH3COCl --> AlCl4- + CH3CO+ (drawn) Then the electrophile CH3CO+ attracts electrons from benzene's delocalised ring to form an intermediate, that the AlCl4- reacts with to remove the hydrogen, producing HCl, AlCl3, and phenylethanone. Benzene undergoes substitution rather than addition because this maintains the stable delocalised ring in benzene.
MS
Related Chemistry A Level answers
All answers ▸Why does the first ionisation energy generally increase across a period? Explain why there are dips in energy between groups 2 and 3 and groups 5 and 6?
How would you synthesise an carboxylic acid just from a primary haloalkane like bromoethane?
Why can Cyclohexene react with Bromine but Benzene cannot?
Regarding the first ionisation energies, why do the values shown on the graph go down from magnesium to aluminium and then rise again from aluminium to silicon