Prev. Article Next Article Table of Contents

Article

Using Computer Graphics to Demonstrate the Origin and Applications of the "Reacting Bond Rules"

Supporting Info

Your current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

Purchase the full-text

PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)

David R. Tyler and David R. Herrick

Department of Chemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1253

J. Chem. Educ., 2002, 79 (11), p 1372

DOI: 10.1021/ed079p1372

Publication Date (Web): November 1, 2002

Section:

History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

The reacting bond rules, also known as Thornton's rules, describe how the structure and energy of a transition state vary as a function of changes in the energies of selected reaction parameters. The rules have many applications in the interpretation of reactivity. The derivation of the "reacting bond rules" is demonstrated using the graphics plotting routines available on programs such as Mathematica. Using these same graphics plotting programs, the relationship between three-dimensional energy plots, two-dimensional More O'Ferrall–Jencks diagrams, and reaction coordinate diagrams is shown for the case of S_N1 and S_N2 substitution reactions. The graphical methods discussed herein are not restricted to substitution reactions but are easily extended to other types of reactions.