While testing the Lassaigne's extract for the presence of halogens, it is first boiled with dilute nitric acid. This is done to decompose NaCN to HCN and Na2S to H2S and to expel these gases. That is, if any nitrogen and sulphur are present in the form of NaCN and Na2S, then they are removed. The chemical equations involved in the reaction are represented as
\(NaCN+HNO_3→NaNO_3+HCN\)
\(Na_2S+2HNO_3→2NaNO_3+H_2S\)
SN1 reaction mechanism takes place by following three steps –
The SN2 reaction mechanism involves the nucleophilic substitution reaction of the leaving group (which generally consists of halide groups or other electron-withdrawing groups) with a nucleophile in a given organic compound.
The mechanism of an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction contains three main components which are:
The electrophilic substitution reaction mechanism is composed of three steps, which will be discussed more below.