ABSTRACT
At rst glance, alkyl halides do not appear to be acids or bases. An alkyl halide contains a C-X bond, where X is Br, Cl, or I, and this bond polarization extends to the β-hydrogen, which takes on a small δ+. In other words, the X-C-C-H unit in alkyl halides has a δ− halogen attached to a carbon (the α-carbon), that is, δ+, making the next carbon (the β-carbon) δ−. e proton, referred to as the β-hydrogen (on the β-carbon, where the halogen is attached to the α-carbon), is a weak acid, but it reacts only with a strong Brønsted-Lowry base.
