What are electrophilic addition reactions of alkenes?

Alkenes contain a pi bond, which is a site of high electron density, since it contains a pair of electrons delocalised around the two bonded carbon atoms. Because of this, the pi bond can act as a nucleophile (something which can act as an electron pair donor), and donate a pair of electrons to an electrophile (something which acts as an electron pair acceptor). The pi bond breaks, and the alkene forms a new bond with the atoms of the electrophile it donated the pair of electrons to, whilst a bond in the electrophile breaks. We end up with something called an intermediate: the alkene ends up having a positive charge, and is called a carbocation, and the group of atoms left from the electrophile has a negative charge. The pair of electrons of the negatively charged group is donated to the carbocation to form a new bond. Electrophilic addition reactions are very common with an alkene and molecules like the hydrogen halides (such as HCl, HBr, HI) and the halogens (such as Br2).

JM
Answered by Jessica M. Chemistry tutor

2570 Views

See similar Chemistry A Level tutors

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

A buffer solution is made with a pH of 5.000. Solid sodium ethanoate, CH3COONa, is added to 400 cm^3 of 0.200 mol dm^–3 ethanoic acid (Ka = 1.75 × 10^–5 mol dm^–3). Calculate the mass of sodium acetate that must be dissolved in the acid to prepare this


Explain the trend in atomic radii from Lithium to Fluorine?


Explain trend in why the ionisation energies increase across the period


State and explain whether NaCl and Mg can conduct electricity in both the solid and molten states.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning