Organohalogen compound

Organohalogen compound, any of a class of organic compounds that contain at least one halogen (fluorine [F], chlorine [Cl], bromine [Br], or iodine [I]) bonded to carbon. They are subdivided into alkyl, vinylic, aryl, and acyl halides. In alkyl halides all four bonds to the carbon that bears the halogen are single bonds; in vinylic halides the carbon that bears the halogen is doubly bonded to another carbon; in aryl halides the halogen-bearing carbon is part of an aromatic ring; and in acyl halides (also called acid halides) the halogen-bearing carbon is doubly bonded to oxygen. Examples of the four types are shown here.

    Vinyl chloride is an organohalogen compound that has important industrial applications. When …
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Molecular structures.

It is the type of carbon to which the halogen is directly bonded that is primarily responsible for the characteristic properties of each class. Thus, the carbon that bears the halogen in allyl chloride (CH2=CHCH2Cl) is singly bonded to each of its attached atoms, which makes the compound an alkyl halide even though a double bond is present elsewhere in the chain. For the same reason, benzyl chloride (C6H5CH2Cl) is an alkyl halide, not an aryl halide, even though a benzene ring is present.

Organohalogen compounds differ widely in chemical reactivity, depending on the halogen and the class to which they belong, and they may even differ within a class. A halogen substituent is considered a functional group, and the transformations of organohalogen compounds rank among the most important in organic chemistry. Many organohalogen compounds, especially organochlorine compounds, are important industrial chemicals; they are used as solvents and pesticides and as intermediates in the preparation of dyes, drugs, and synthetic polymers. More than 2,000 organohalogen compounds have been identified as naturally occurring materials and are produced by various plants, fungi, bacteria, and marine organisms. A variety of synthetic methods to introduce halogens into organic molecules are available, and organic halogen compounds may be converted to other functional-group classes by reliable methods.

This article discusses alkyl, vinylic, and aryl halides; for more information about acyl halides, see acid halide and carboxylic acid.


Two types of IUPAC nomenclature are used when naming organohalogen compounds: substitutive and functional class. In substitutive nomenclature the prefix fluoro-, chloro-, bromo-, or iodo- is added to the name of the hydrocarbon framework along with a number (called a locant) identifying the carbon to which the halogen is attached. Substituents, including the halogen, are listed in alphabetical order. Examples of substitutive nomenclature are given here.

Molecular structures.

Two separate words are used when naming alkyl halides by functional class nomenclature. The first word is the IUPAC name of the alkyl group (for an explanation of IUPAC nomenclature, see hydrocarbon), and the second is the word fluoride, chloride, bromide, or iodide—depending on the halogen. The alkyl group chain is numbered beginning at the carbon to which the halogen is attached.

Molecular structures.


Carbon-halogen bond strengths and reactivity

Among the various classes of organohalogen compounds, aryl halides have the strongest carbon-halogen bonds and alkyl halides the weakest, as, for example, in the following series of organochlorine compounds. (The bond dissociation energy is the amount of energy needed to break a given bond of a molecule in the gaseous phase.)

List of carbon-chlorine bond dissociation energies for alkyl, vinylic, and aryl halides.

There is a rough correlation between bond strength and the rates of reaction of organohalogen compounds; for example, the stronger the carbon-halogen bond, the slower the rate of reaction. Many of the most common and useful reactions of alkyl halides, when applied to vinylic or aryl halides, occur too slowly to be practical.

Alkyl halides

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Structure and physical properties

Alkyl halides (RX, where R is an alkyl group and X is F, Cl, Br, or I) are classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary according to the degree of substitution at the carbon to which the halogen is attached. In a primary alkyl halide, the carbon that bears the halogen is directly bonded to one other carbon, in a secondary alkyl halide to two, and in a tertiary alkyl halide to three.

Molecular structures of primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl halides.

The methods used to prepare alkyl halides and the reactions that alkyl halides undergo frequently depend on whether the alkyl halide is primary, secondary, or tertiary.

A halogen substituent draws the electrons in the C−X bond toward itself, giving the carbon a partial positive charge (δ+) and the halogen a partial negative charge (δ-). The presence of the resulting polar covalent bond makes most alkyl halides polar compounds. Because the bond dipole (the measure of the separation of charge) of a C−X bond is the product of a charge term (largest for fluorine and smallest for iodine) and a distance term (smallest for fluorine and largest for iodine), the molecular dipole moments of alkyl halides do not vary much from one halogen to another.

Selected properties of ethyl halides (CH3CH2X)
compound halogen
halogen bond
distance (Å)
μ (D)
fluoroethane F               1.38             1.92       
chloroethane Cl              1.78             1.98       
bromoethane Br              1.94             2.01       
iodoethane I                2.14             1.87       
compound carbon-halogen
bond dissociation
energy (kcal/mol)
boiling point
fluoroethane 107            −32             
chloroethane 81            12             
bromoethane 68            38             
iodoethane 54            72             
*Dipole moments measured in the vapour stage.

The most important reactions of organohalogen compounds involve breaking the carbon-halogen bond by processes in which the halogen retains both of the electrons from the original bond and is lost as a negatively charged ion (X). Consistent with the order of carbon-halogen bond strengths, in which the bond to fluorine is the strongest and the bond to iodine the weakest of the carbon-halogen bonds, fluorides are normally observed to be the least reactive of the alkyl halides and iodides the most reactive.

The boiling points of ethyl halides increase as the atomic number of the halogen increases. With increasing atomic number the halogen becomes more polarizable, meaning that the electric field associated with the atom is more easily distorted by the presence of nearby electric fields. Fluorine is the least polarizable of the halogens and iodine the most polarizable. An increased polarizability is associated with stronger intermolecular attractive forces of the London dispersion type (see chemical bonding: Intermolecular forces) and therefore with an increased boiling point.

Multiple halogen substitution tends to increase the boiling point: CH3Cl boils at −24 °C (−11 °F), CH2Cl2 at 40 °C (104 °F), CHCl3 at 61 °C (142 °F), and CCl4 at 77 °C (171 °F). Multiple fluorine substitution is an exception, however: CH3CH2F boils at −32 °C (−26 °F), CH3CHF2 at −25 °C (−13 °F), CH3CF3 at −47 °C (−53 °F), and CF3CF3 at −78 °C (−108 °F). By reducing the molecular polarizability, multiple fluorine substitution weakens the strength of dispersion forces between molecules. In the liquid state these weakened intermolecular attractive forces are reflected in unusually low boiling points, and in the solid state they are responsible for the novel properties of fluorocarbon polymers.

The densities of alkyl halides are related to intermolecular attractive forces and tend to parallel boiling points, alkyl fluorides being the least dense and alkyl iodides the most dense. In general, alkyl fluorides and chlorides are less dense than water, and bromides and iodides are more dense than water. Alkyl halides are not soluble in water.

Natural occurrence

Estimates place the amount of chloromethane (methyl chloride; CH3Cl) that results from natural biological processes at more than five million tons (five billion kilograms) per year. Most of this is produced in the oceans by marine algae and kelp, but terrestrial organisms—especially fungi—also contribute. Smaller quantities (less than 250,000 tons per year) enter the atmosphere as a result of volcanic emissions, forest fires, and human activity. Ocean-living organisms are a source of bromomethane (CH3Br) and iodomethane (CH3I). More than 50 organohalogen compounds, including CHBr3, CHBrClI, BrCH2CH2I, CH2I2, Br2CHCH=O, I2CHCO2H, and (Cl3C)2C=O, have been identified as being present in the Hawaiian red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis. Virtually every marine plant that has been assayed has been found to produce organohalogen compounds, many of which have quite complicated structures.

Several naturally occurring halogen-containing substances have pharmaceutical applications. An example is the antibiotic chloramphenicol produced by Streptomyces venezuelae.

Molecular structure.

Fluorine-containing natural products are relatively rare, the most prominent examples being ω-fluoro fatty acids. (The prefix ω indicates that the substitution occurs at the end of a chain.) Fluoroacetic acid, FCH2CO2H, occurs in the South African plant Dichapetalum cymosum and is quite toxic. A related Dichapetalum species contains 16-fluorohexadecanoic acid, FCH2(CH2)14CO2H, which is also poisonous when ingested, because of its subsequent metabolic conversion to fluoroacetic acid.


Alkyl halides are prepared by three main methods.

The first is the reaction of an alcohol with a hydrogen halide, as in the following synthesis of 1-bromobutane.

Chemical equation.

The second method is addition of a hydrogen halide to an alkene; e.g.,

Chemical equation.

The third method is free-radical halogenation of an alkane; e.g.,

Chemical equation.

Each of these three methods suffers from certain features that limit its generality. Consequently, the particular method chosen depends on the structure of the desired alkyl halide.

Vicinal dihalides, compounds that have halogens on adjacent carbons, are prepared by the reaction between a halogen and an alkene. The simplest example is the reaction between ethylene and chlorine to give 1,2-dichloroethane (ethylene dichloride). 1,2-Dichloroethane leads all other organohalogen compounds in terms of its annual production, which averages nearly 20 million tons globally per year. Most of this material is converted to vinyl chloride and then to polyvinyl chloride, or PVC.

Chemical equation.

The methods described above are best suited for preparing alkyl chlorides and bromides. Alkyl fluorides and iodides are normally made from the corresponding chloride or bromide by nucleophilic substitution (see below Reactions).

Among one-carbon organohalogen compounds, chloromethane is important as the starting material for the preparation of dichlorodimethylsilane, (CH3)2SiCl2, from which silicone polymers are produced. The main method for the synthesis of chloromethane is the reaction of methanol with hydrogen chloride:

Chemical equation.

A second method, the high-temperature gas-phase chlorination of methane, contributes about one-third of the annual chloromethane production.

Chemical equation.

Dichloromethane, used as a solvent, a paint remover, and aerosol propellant, is prepared by chlorination of chloromethane, and trichloromethane is prepared by chlorination of dichloromethane.

Chemical equations.

Production of a large number of other one- or two-carbon organohalogen compounds has either been curtailed or eliminated because of the hazards they present with regard to ozone depletion, global warming, carcinogenicity, or toxicity. One example is the group of compounds called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. A typical CFC is dichlorodifluoromethane (CCl2F2; also known as CFC-12). Chlorofluorocarbons were introduced in the 1930s as safe, stable, nontoxic refrigerant gases and shortly thereafter became the standard materials for this purpose. In the 1970s, however, research by American chemists F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina and by Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen, who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, indicated that CFCs were involved in the thinning of the ozone layer in Antarctica. Being very stable gases, CFCs diffuse through the atmosphere and into the stratosphere (the atmospheric region that is approximately 10 to 50 km [6 to 30 miles] above the Earth’s surface), where ultraviolet radiation induces their dissociation by carbon-chlorine bond cleavage. The products of this cleavage are a chlorine atom and a chlorodifluoromethyl radical. (A free radical is a species that has one or more unpaired electrons.)

Chemical equation.

With respect to ozone depletion, the chlorine atom is the more important product of this dissociation. The chlorine atom reacts with atmospheric ozone, abstracting an oxygen atom to form chlorine monoxide:

Chemical equation.

At this point, one chlorine atom has reacted with one ozone molecule. However, a sequence of several steps follows in which chlorine monoxide reacts further to cleave a second molecule of ozone while regenerating a chlorine atom. This chlorine atom can then react with another ozone molecule to continue the process, eventually causing the destruction of thousands of ozone molecules.

Because ozone is an important absorber of ultraviolet radiation, any decrease in the stratospheric concentration of ozone carries with it an increased risk of skin cancer. In 1987 the United Nations Environment Programme drafted the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, under which most of the world’s industrialized nations agreed in 1990 to phase out all uses of CFCs by the year 2000. Later amendments to the Montreal Protocol have allowed developed countries to continue to produce and use certain CFCs, including chloromethane, but they are expected to phase out their dependence on these chemicals by 2030.

In addition to CFCs, which are sources of chlorine atoms, sources of bromine atoms are ozone depleters. Bromomethane (methyl bromide) is an example, and it was scheduled to be phased out by 2005; however, developed countries have been granted permission to negotiate annual exemptions. In 2006 the global production of bromomethane was capped at 13,000 metric tons—a 20 percent reduction from the previous year. Less-developed countries are expected to phase out their use of bromomethane by 2015. Most of the atmospheric bromomethane arises from biological processes that occur in the oceans, but about one-quarter results from the bromomethane used each year as a soil fumigant for agricultural purposes.


A useful property of alkyl halides is the ease with which they may be converted to other classes of compounds. The three most important reactions of alkyl halides are nucleophilic substitution, elimination, and conversion to organomagnesium compounds.

Nucleophilic substitution

Nucleophilic substitution, which can be represented by the following general equation, permits the halogen to be replaced by oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, or another carbon.

Chemical equation.

The source of the negatively charged nucleophile Y is normally an ionic sodium or a potassium salt (Na+Yor K+Y). A specific example of a nucleophilic substitution is the reaction of sodium hydroxide and benzyl chloride:

Chemical equation.

The relative order of alkyl halide reactivity is governed by the carbon-halogen bond strength. Alkyl iodides have the weakest carbon-halogen bond and react at the fastest rate. Alkyl fluorides have the strongest carbon-halogen bond and react so slowly as to rarely undergo nucleophilic substitutions.

Various families of organic compounds can be prepared by the appropriate choice of nucleophile. These include ethers (ROR′), esters (RCOOR′), nitriles (RCN), and sulfides (RSR′):

Chemical equations.

Alkyl fluorides are normally prepared by fluoride acting as a nucleophile toward an alkyl chloride, bromide, or iodide—e.g., NaF + RX → RF + NaX. While the reaction is reversible in principle, the greater strength of the carbon-fluorine bond causes the alkyl fluoride to predominate over the alkyl chloride, bromide, or iodide. Alkyl iodides can be prepared from alkyl chlorides and alkyl bromides by reaction with a solution of sodium iodide (NaI) in acetone (CH3COCH3). In this case the reaction proceeds in the direction shown because neither sodium chloride (NaCl) nor sodium bromide (NaBr) is soluble in acetone; precipitation of sodium chloride or sodium bromide from the reaction mixture causes the position of equilibrium to shift to the right.

Chemical equation.

Chemists generally agree that the reactions of alkyl halides described to this point take place through a mechanism in which the nucleophile approaches the alkyl halide from the side opposite the bond to the leaving group. Substitution occurs in a single step by way of a transition state (a high-energy, unstable, nonisolable structure) in which the carbon being attacked is partially bonded to both the nucleophile and the leaving group. Any one-step process involving two species is defined as bimolecular, and this reaction mechanism is termed SN2 (substitution-nucleophilic-bimolecular).

Chemical equation.

The rate of bimolecular nucleophilic substitution strongly depends on the structure of the alkyl halide and is believed to be governed by the degree of crowding at the carbon undergoing nucleophilic attack. Methyl halides (CH3X) react at the fastest rate. Primary alkyl halides (RCH2X) react faster than secondary alkyl halides (RR′CHX), which in turn react faster than tertiary alkyl halides (RR′R″CX). When the substituents R, R′, and R″ are small—e.g., R = R′ = R″ = H in CH3X—the transition state is not very crowded, and the nucleophile displaces the leaving group from carbon rapidly. Successive replacement of R, R′, and R″ by alkyl groups increasingly hinders the approach of the nucleophile to carbon, makes the transition state more crowded, and slows the rate. The blocking of access to a reactive site by nearby groups is referred to as steric hindrance.

Tertiary alkyl halides are so sterically hindered that, when they undergo nucleophilic substitution, they do so by a mechanism other than SN2. A two-step mechanism is believed to be followed, the first step of which is slower than the second and determines the overall rate of the reaction.

Chemical equation.

Because the rate-determining (slow) step involves only one molecule, the mechanism is described as unimolecular, and the term SN1 (substitution-nucleophilic-unimolecular) is applied. The species formed in the slow step contains a positively charged, electron-deficient carbon and is called a carbocation. Carbocations are unstable and react rapidly with substances such as nucleophiles that have unshared electrons available for bond formation.


When the attacking species is a strong base such as hydroxide (OH) or alkoxide (OR), nucleophilic substitutions carried out for synthetic objectives are practical only when the alkyl halide is primary. The principal reaction observed when a strong base reacts with a secondary or tertiary alkyl halide is elimination, as in the attack of sodium methoxide on 2-chloro-2-methylpropane.

Chemical equation.

Elimination competes with substitution because the negatively charged ion, in this case methoxide (OCH3), can either attack carbon (act as a nucleophile) or remove a proton (act as a base). The bonding changes that accompany elimination are often represented using curved-arrow notation to track the movement of electron pairs.

Chemical equation.

Elimination of alkyl halides in the manner described is believed to occur in a single step and is given the mechanistic symbol E2, which stands for elimination-bimolecular. Elimination always accompanies nucleophilic substitution and is the chief limitation on efficient synthetic applications of nucleophilic substitution. By using a sufficiently strong base, it is usually possible to cause elimination to predominate over substitution, and dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides by the E2 mechanism is one of the main methods by which alkenes are prepared (see hydrocarbon).

Preparation of Grignard reagents

Many metals, especially those of Groups 1 and 2, reduce alkyl halides, converting the carbon-halogen bond to a carbon-metal bond. (Substances that contain a carbon-metal bond are referred to as organometallic compounds.) The most generally useful organometallic compounds are those of magnesium (Mg), formulated as alkylmagnesium halides, RMgX.

Chemical equation.

Organomagnesium compounds, called Grignard reagents, are versatile in synthetic organic chemistry. These highly reactive substances are normally prepared and stored in inert solvents, especially diethyl ether (CH3CH2OCH2CH3), until used. The preparation of Grignard reagents is of broad scope. The organohalogen compound may be an alkyl, alkenyl, or aryl halide; if it is an alkyl halide, it may be primary, secondary, or tertiary. It may be an iodide (most reactive toward reduction by magnesium), bromide, or chloride. Even alkyl fluorides, which normally do not react with magnesium, can be converted to Grignard reagents by using a specially prepared highly reactive form of the metal.

The most useful reaction of Grignard reagents is their reaction with aldehydes and ketones to form alcohols. Grignard reagents react with formaldehyde to give primary alcohols having one more carbon atom than the alkyl halide from which the Grignard reagent was derived. Aldehydes give secondary alcohols, while ketones yield tertiary alcohols. Alcohols can also be prepared by the reaction of Grignard reagents with epoxides or esters (for more information about these reactions, see alcohol and phenol).

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