Types of Organic Reactions

There are five main types of organic reactions that can take
place. They are as follows:

 Substitution reactions
 Elimination reactions
 Addition reactions
 Radical reactions
 Oxidation-Reduction Reactions
Let us study each of these reactions in detail, to understand
more about them.

(Source: wikihow)

1) Substitution Reactions

In a substitution reaction, generally, one atom or a group of

atoms take place of another atom or a group of atoms which
leads to the formation of an altogether new substance. We can
take an example of C – Cl bond, in which the carbon atom
usually has a partial positive charge due to the presence of
highly electronegative chlorine atoms.

In a nucleophilic substitution reaction, it is important that the

nucleophile must have a pair of electrons and it also should
have a high affinity for the electropositive species in
comparison to the substituent which was originally present in
the element. In order for the substitution reaction to occur, there
are certain conditions that have to be present such as
maintaining low temperatures same as room temperature.

Also, The strong base such as NaOH has to be in dilute form

because suppose if the base is of higher concentration, there are
chances of dehydrohalogenation taking place in the reaction.
And, the solution needs to be in an aqueous state such as water
for the reaction to take place. The types of Substitution
reactions include nucleophilic substitution reactions and
electrophilic substitution reactions.

2) Elimination Reactions

There are certain reactions which involve the elimination and

removal of the adjacent atoms. After these multiple bonds are
simultaneously formed and there is a release of small molecules
as products as a result. One of the examples of a typical
elimination reaction is the conversion of ethyl chloride to
ethylene.

CH3CH2Cl → CH2= CH2 + HCl

In the above reaction, the eliminated molecule is HCl, which

can form out of the combination of H+ from the carbon atom
which is on the left side and Cl– from the carbon atom which is
on the right side.

3) Addition Reactions

An addition reaction is simply just the opposite of an

elimination reaction. In an addition reaction, the components or
molecules of A and B are added to the carbon-carbon multiple
bonds and this is called an addition reaction. In the reaction
given below when HCl is added to ethylene, it will give us
ethylene chloride.
 HCl + CH2 = CH2 → CH3CH2Cl

4) Radical Reactions

Most of the organic reactions involve radicals and their

movement. Addition of a halogen to a typically saturated
hydrocarbon involves free radical mechanism. There are usually
three stages involved in a radical reaction which are, initiation,
propagation, and termination. Initially when the weak bond is
broken initiation of the reaction takes place with the formation
of free radicals. After that when the halogen is added to the
hydrocarbon a radical is produced and finally, it gives alkyl
halide.