SN1 Mechanism

SN1 mechanism (S: substitution, N: nucleophilic, 1: first order)

is one of the two limiting mechanisms of nucleophilic aliphatic
substitution at saturated carbon. It is a two-step mechanism:

A nucleophilic aliphatic substitution at saturated

carbon occurring via SN1 mechanism is called an SN1
reaction. The rate law of an SN1 reaction is rate = k
[substrate].
According to the rate law, an SN1 reaction is first order
overall, and the concentration of the nucleophile does not
affect the rate. The implication is that the nucleophile does
not participate in the rate limiting step or any prior steps,
which suggests that the first step is the rate limiting
step. Since the nucleophile is not involved in the rate-
limiting first step, the nature of the nucleophile does not
affect the rate of an SN1 reaction.

SN2 Mechanism
 SN2 mechanism (S-substitution, N-nucleophilic, 2-
second order) is one of the two limiting mechanisms of
nucleophilic aliphatic substitution at saturated carbon. It
is a one-step mechanism:

A nucleophilic aliphatic substitution at saturated

carbon occurring via SN2 mechanism is called an SN2
reaction. The rate law of an SN2 reaction is rate = k
[substrate][nucleophile]
According to the rate law, an SN2 reaction is second order
overall, and the concentration of both substrate and
nucleophile affect the rate of reaction, which is consistent
with the single-step mechanism.