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Elimination reactions are reactions in which two atoms, or groups of atoms, are removed from a molecule to form a new product.
If you think about it, this makes sense. When you eliminate something, you are getting rid of it. In elimination reactions you get rid of parts of a molecule.
An example of an elimination reaction. Notice how the atoms shown in red are lost from the molecule. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
An elimination reaction can occur between the hydroxide ion, 
, and a halogenoalkane. This reaction produces water, a halide ion, and an alkene.
Remember that a halogenoalkane is a hydrocarbon containing one or more halogen atoms. An example is chloromethane, 
, shown below.
Chloromethane, an example of a halogenoalkane. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
The hydroxide ion acts as a base by accepting a proton, 
, from the halogenoalkane to form water.
A base is simply a proton acceptor.
One of the adjacent carbon atoms then loses a halide ion in order to achieve a stable structure. This is also known as dehydrohalogenation. You’ll find the general mechanism below, using 
to represent the halogen.
The general mechanism for elimination reactions involving halogenoalkanes. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
We’ve included a labelled diagram to help you understand the mechanism.
A leaving group is a fragment of a molecule that leaves the parent molecule in a chemical reaction. When the chemical bond joining the leaving group and parent molecule together is broken, the bonding pair of electrons moves over to the leaving group.
The reactant is either potassium hydroxide, 
, or sodium hydroxide, 
. The reaction is carried out under reflux in hot, ethanolic conditions, and the sodium or potassium ion reacts with the halide ion to form either a sodium or potassium halide.
Study tip: Make sure that you remember that elimination occurs in ethanolic, NOT aqueous conditions.
This type of elimination has what is known as an E2 mechanism, because there are two species involved in the initial slow part of the reaction. An E1 mechanism is possible, but this is a more complicated process.
For elimination to occur, there must be a hydrogen on an adjacent carbon to the carbon bonded to the halogen. This sounds more complicated than it is! The easiest way to see if a halogenoalkane is suitable is to draw the molecule, then follow these simple steps:
If they do, your halogenoalkane can react!
Identifying suitable halogenoalkanes. Notice that the carbon containing the C-X bond is also bonded to an R group. This may also be suitable for elimination. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
For example, an elimination reaction could occur between a hydroxide ion and 2-bromobutane, but not with 1-bromo-2,2-dimethylpropane. We’ve drawn these molecules out below, labelling the steps we described above to make the explanation clearer:
Finding suitable halogenoalkanes for elimination. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
Depending on the halogenoalkane used, we can form multiple different alkenes in an elimination reaction. This is because there could be multiple carbons with a C-H bond adjacent to the C-X bonded carbon, and so various hydrogen atoms can be attacked. Some of these alkenes may be stereoisomers.
Stereoisomers are molecules that have the same structural formula but different spatial arrangements of atoms.
For example, the reaction between 2-chlorobutane and potassium hydroxide can produce three different alkenes:
For more information about stereoisomers, see Isomerism.
Some halogenoalkanes are a lot more reactive than others. Iodopropane, for example, will react faster with hydroxide ions than chloropropane. This is because the C-I bond has a lower bond enthalpy than the C-Cl bond. Iodine is a larger atom than chlorine and thus the bonded pair of electrons involved in the C-X bond are further from the nucleus. This means that there is weaker attraction between the nucleus and the electrons and the bond is easier to break.
To explore the reactivity of halogenoalkanes further, see Halogenoalkanes.
When carrying out an elimination reaction, some substitution will always occur, and vice versa. However, the reaction conditions can be controlled to favour one or the other of the reactions. The following table summarises the similarities and differences between the elimination and nucleophilic substitutions of halogenoalkanes. Favoured conditions, favoured halogenoalkane, and the role of the hydroxide ion will be explored further below.
A table comparing nucleophilic substitution with elimination. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
We stated above that elimination requires ethanolic potassium hydroxide. In actual fact, the solvent used is roughly a 50:50 split of ethanol and water. You might remember that halogenoalkanes are insoluble in water (see Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions), so a small amount of ethanol is needed to dissolve them. This is the case for both elimination and nucleophilic substitution reactions. However, the exact temperature and proportion of ethanol to water in the solvent influences the dominant reaction:
Study tip: Learn what your exam board wants you to know concerning reaction conditions. Some exam boards are happy with aqueous solution for nucleophilic substitution reactions and ethanolic solution for elimination, whereas some want you to explore the conditions in more depth, as given above.
The type of halogenoalkane used as a reactant affects the dominant reaction. Tertiary halogenoalkanes contain three alkyl groups attached to the carbon with the C-X bond, whereas primary halogenoalkanes have at most one. This means that tertiary halogenoalkanes have more opportunities for elimination, simply because they have more carbons with hydrogens adjacent to the C-X bonded carbon. Therefore, using tertiary halogenoalkanes favours elimination, whereas using primary halogenoalkanes favours nucleophilic substitution.
The type of halogenoalkane used has an effect on which reaction is favoured. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
The hydroxide ion takes different roles in the elimination and nucleophilic substitution, although this does not affect the dominant reaction type. In elimination, the hydroxide ion acts as a base whereas in nucleophilic substitution it acts as a nucleophile.
2-chloropropane undergoes elimination in hot ethanolic sodium hydroxide as shown below. Although hydrogens on both carbons 1 and 3 can be attacked, the alkenes produced are identical, so we don’t produce any isomers. In both cases, the products are propene, water, and the chloride ion, which reacts with sodium to form sodium chloride:
The elimination of 2-chloropropane to form propene, water, and the chloride ion. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
Another example of an elimination reaction with a halogenoalkane is the elimination of 2-bromo-2-methylbutane using potassium hydroxide. This produces 2 different alkenes:
The elimination of 2-bromo-2-methylbutane. Anna Brewer, StudySmarter Originals
Another type of elimination reaction is the dehydration of alcohols to form alkenes. (See Elimination Reactions of Alcohols.)
An elimination reaction is a reaction in which two atoms, or groups of atoms, are removed from a molecule to form a new product.
Elimination reactions are important because they transform saturated compounds into unsaturated ones by forming a C=C double bond.
Condensation reactions are elimination reactions, in which the two atoms removed react to form water. Condensation reactions are also known as dehydration reactions, and include the dehydration of alcohols to form an alkene and water.
In substitution reactions, an atom or group of atoms on a molecule is swapped for another atom or group of atoms. In elimination reactions, two atoms or groups of atoms are removed from a molecule.
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