Intro to Substitution Reactions: Crash Course Organic Chemistry #20

Substitution reactions can have really powerful effects, both good and bad, in our bodies. You might remember substitution reactions as displacement reactions from general chemistry, but (you guessed it!) in organic chemistry they’re a bit more complicated. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’ll learn about the two pathways substitution reactions can take: SN1 and SN2 mechanisms, which substrates prefer which mechanism, and we’ll apply this knowledge by looking at how substitution reactions make chemotherapy treatments work.

Episode Sources:
Brookes, P., Lawley, P.D. “The Reaction of Mono-and Di-Functional Alkylating Agents with Nucleic Acids,” Biochem. J., 1961, 80, 496-503.

Series Sources:
Brown, W. H., Iverson, B. L., Ansyln, E. V., Foote, C., Organic Chemistry; 8th ed.; Cengage Learning, Boston, 2018.
Bruice, P. Y., Organic Chemistry, 7th ed.; Pearson Education, Inc., United States, 2014.
Clayden, J., Greeves, N., Warren., S., Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Oxford University Press, New York, 2012.
Jones Jr., M.; Fleming, S. A., Organic Chemistry, 5th ed.; W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2014.
Klein., D., Organic Chemistry; 1st ed.; John Wiley & Sons, United States, 2012.
Louden M., Organic Chemistry; 5th ed.; Roberts and Company Publishers, Colorado, 2009.
McMurry, J., Organic Chemistry, 9th ed.; Cengage Learning, Boston, 2016.
Smith, J. G., Organic chemistry; 6th ed.; McGraw-Hill Education, New York, 2020.
Wade., L. G., Organic Chemistry; 8th ed.; Pearson Education, Inc., United States, 2013.