Aromatic Functional Group Interconversions 2015
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To complement the the Organic Reaction Map posted a week or so ago, here’s a reaction map looking at reactions that allow you to vary the substituents on a benzene ring. This was a far larger undertaking than expected; the bulk of the work on the organic reaction map was done in the space of a day, whereas this one is probably pushing towards three days – suffice to say that there were a lot of reactions that could’ve been included!

As far as the content goes, this map (hopefully) details the majority of basic reactions of aromatic compounds. It certainly includes all the reactions necessary for most A Level courses, and more besides. The many possible reactions, and the fact that I really don’t like arrows crossing over in a tangled mess if I can help it, means that it’s by no means exhaustive, but it should be conclusive enough for casual reference purposes.

If you’re also a chemist and can spot something horribly wrong, then please let me know – similarly if you have any suggestions for something you think should have been included but hasn’t.

You can buy A2, A1 & A0 versions of the reaction map here.

Thanks go to @DaK_74 and @mfomich on twitter for their invaluable help in double checking the information on this graphic.

Download the A3 PDF of this graphic here.

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3 Comments

  • Jordan
    Posted February 26, 2014 at 12:00 am 0Likes

    You might want to add arrows from benzonitrile to benzoic acid, since that’s a relatively simple. hydration/dehydration.

    Glad to see the infographic, since I feel like too many of my organic chemistry courses were weak when it came to aromatic transformations.

    • Posted February 26, 2014 at 10:56 pm 0Likes

      Glad you like the graphic! Good point on the benzenenitrile to benzoic acid – originally I left it out as I had a slightly different arrangement for the various compounds, and couldn’t find a way to fit that reaction in… However, it’d actually be quite easy to fit it in now. I’ll adjust it tomorrow!

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