ABSTRACT
This chapter will show that the potent ionizing ability of water is a key to predicting bimolecular versus unimolecular reactions. Aprotic solvents favor bimolecular reactions. It is assumed that water is required for ionization. Primary alkyl halides undergo SN2 reactions under most conditions, whereas tertiary alkyl halides never undergo SN2. If a nucleophile is classified as the conjugate base of a strong acid, it is a weak base and will probably not induce an E2 reaction.
