COMPOUND

A Short Guide to Arrows in Chemistry Ci INTEREST

Chemical reaction arrows Electron movement arrows

Reaction arrow Multiple steps arrow Broken arrow Resonance arrow

or

These arrows point from the reactants to the Chemists use stacked multiple arrows to Chemists use these arrows to indicate Chemists use these arrows to show different
products of a chemical reaction. Reaction indicate that there are several reaction steps chemical reactions that do not take place. resonance forms of the same molecule. The
conditions, reagents or catalysts may be between the reagents and the products The reactants shown cannot be transformed forms differ in electron arrangements; the
written above or below the reaction arrow. shown on either side of the arrows. into the products shown. true structure of the molecule is an average.

Examples Example Examples Example

O2N NO2
HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O CH3 Cu + MgSO4 CuSO4 + Mg
Cr 2 O 72–/H 2 SO 4
C 2H 5OH + 2[O] CH 3COOH + H 2O NO2 Br2 + 2 KCl Cl 2 + 2 KBr
reflux

Reversible reaction arrow Equilibrium arrow Retrosynthesis arrow Curly arrow

Chemists use these arrows to indicate that a These arrows show that a reversible reaction Organic chemists use these arrows to show Curly arrows show electron movement in
reaction is reversible — the reactants react to is at equilibrium: the forward and reverse that the molecule on the left can be made reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry.
produce the products, but the products can reactions occur at the same rate. The length from the starting materials on the right, A double-headed arrow shows movement of
also react to make the reactants. of the arrows can be varied to show if often through several reaction steps. an electron pair, while a single-headed arrow
reactants or products are favoured. shows movement of a single electron.
Examples Example OH
Examples Example
H
CuSO4 .5H2O CuSO4 + 5 H2O OH H2N O H H O H3O+
N2 + 3 H 2 2 NH3 O
+ H3C H3C H H3C H3C
H3C C Br H3C C H3C C O H H3C C OH
O O
CaCO 3 CaO + CO 2 CH 3 COOH + C 2 H 5 OH CH 3 COOC 2 H 5 + H 2 O
N
H
H3C H3C H3C H H3C
O

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