Figure 1: Previous and current reports on the anti-Markovnikov addition of nucleophiles to alkenes. Figure 2: Proposed catalytic cycle for the anti-Markovnikov hydrohalogenation of styrenyl alkenes.

A dilute solution of bromine is added to samples of heptane and cyclohexene. The bromination reactions and mechanisms are compared. UV light splits the bromine molecule into two reactive radicals, ...

In a development that could revise organic chemistry textbooks, a new catalytic version of alkene dichlorination makes the reaction more versatile. Now, researchers have devised the first catalytic ...

Radical addition–elimination reactions are a major pathway for transformation of unsaturated hydrocarbons. In the gas phase, these reactions involve formation of a transient strongly bound ...

Complete combustion of alkenes produces carbon dioxide and water, provided there is a plentiful supply of oxygen. Incomplete combustion of alkenes occurs where oxygen is limited and produces water, ...

Bromine water is an orange solution of bromine. It becomes colourless when it is shaken with an alkene. Alkenes can decolourise bromine water, but alkanes cannot. The slideshow shows this process.

As a footnote to Mark M. Green’s letter on how to make organic chemistry “be part of understanding the wider world, to be worth knowing” (Jan. 2, 2023, page 3), I wish to illustrate my approach to “a ...