Master Organic Chemistry Reaction Guide

The Hofmann and Curtius Rearrangements

…family of rearrangement reactions that share a common mechanistic step. [as do the Beckmann and Wolff rearrangements – see bonus topic 2] In the Hofmann rearrangement, an amide is treated…

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Birch Reduction

…this is not a Birch reduction – this is elimination of a chloride to form benzyne followed by attack! Another common mistake is to imagine that the role of Na…

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The Hofmann Elimination

…to amines. 3. The “Hofmann Degradation” Back in 1851, not many techniques for analyzing complex molecules were available. One method for determining the structure of an unknown compound was to…

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