What is the order of increasing nucleophilic addition reactivity- CH3COCH3, C6H5COCH3, CH3CHO?

1 Answer
anor277
Feb 12, 2016

Reactivity increases in the order: C_6H_5C(=O)CH_3; H_3C-C(=O)CH_3; H_3C-C(=O)H

Explanation:

Consider the organic shrubbery substituting the carbonyl group. Phenylacetone has a whopping great phenyl group; acetone has 2 methyl groups, versus acetaldehyde, 1 methyl, and 1 hydrogen.

Now it is well-known that aldehydes are much more reactive than ketones, so acetaldehyde is the MOST reactive. Next comes the ketone, acetone, and least reactive to substitution is the phenylacetone.

Related questions
See all questions in Quick Introduction of Structures
Impact of this question
21928 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License