What's the name of the reaction that turns a haloalkane to an alkene?

1 Answer
Feb 14, 2018

Do you mean #"dehydrohalogenation....?"#

Explanation:

#"Dehydrohalogenation"# typically exhibits the action of a STRONG base on an #"alkyl halide"# to give an unsaturated
species, an olefin, and water, AND an inorganic salt, whose formation provides a thermodynamic driving force to the reaction...i.e. consider the dehydrohalogenation of isopropyl bromide to give propylene...

#"H"_3"CCHBrCH"_3 + "KOH" stackrel(Delta)rarr "H"_2"C=CHCH"_3+"H"_2"O"+ "KCl"#

....the more substituted olefin typically results from #"dehydrohalogenation"# of an unsymmetric alkyl halide.