Elimination reaction

Elimination reaction of cyclohexanol to cyclohexene with sulfuric acid and heat[1]

An elimination reaction is a type of organic reaction in which two substituents are removed from a molecule in either a one- or two-step mechanism.[2] The one-step mechanism is known as the E2 reaction, and the two-step mechanism is known as the E1 reaction. The numbers refer not to the number of steps in the mechanism, but rather to the kinetics of the reaction: E2 is bimolecular (second-order) while E1 is unimolecular (first-order). In cases where the molecule is able to stabilize an anion but possesses a poor leaving group, a third type of reaction, E1CB, exists. Finally, the pyrolysis of xanthate and acetate esters proceed through an "internal" elimination mechanism, the Ei mechanism.

  1. ^ Coleman, G. H.; Johnstone, H. F. (1925). "Cyclohexene". Organic Syntheses. 5: 33. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.005.0033.
  2. ^ March, Jerry (1985), Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure, 3rd edition, New York: Wiley, ISBN 9780471854722, OCLC 642506595