Pushing Curly Arrows

Useful Concepts

Pushing Electrons and Curly Arrows

A few simple lessons (1, 2, 3, 4)
Summary
Link to some questions in the e-text.

Understanding the location of electrons and being able to draw the curly arrows that depict the mechanisms by which the reactions occur is one of the most critical tools for learning organic chemistry since they allow you to understand what controls reactions, and how reactions proceed.

Before you can do this you need to understand that a bond is due to a pair of electrons between atoms.

When asked to draw a MECHANISM, curly arrows should be used to show ALL the BONDING changes that occur.

Lesson 1 Curly Arrows L1

Lesson 2 Curly Arrows L2

Lesson 3 Curly Arrows L3: S<sub>N</sub>1 and S<sub>N</sub>2

Lesson 4 Curly Arrows L4

Curly Arrow Summary

Curly arrows flow from electron rich to electron poor.
Therefore they start from lone pairs or bonds.
The charges in any particular step should always be balanced.
Remember to obey the rules of valence (eg. octet rule for C,N,O,F etc.)
If electrons are taken out of a bond, then that bond is broken.
If electrons are placed between two atoms then it implies a bond is being made.