Mechanism Explainer
Step-by-step organic reaction mechanisms with electron-flow curvy arrows and textbook references.
What it does
Describe a reaction in words, up to 500 characters: the starting materials, the reagents and any conditions. Or pick a textbook preset. Clara walks through the mechanism step by step. Every step shows the bond event, the curvy-arrow electron flow, the structural reasoning, and a hint for drawing it yourself.
Highlights
- ✓Classification (SN1, SN2, E1, E2, addition, pericyclic, etc.)
- ✓Stereochemistry: inversion, retention, racemisation — with the reason
- ✓Thermodynamic vs kinetic control
- ✓Textbook references (Clayden, March, etc.) per mechanism
What you get back
- →Numbered steps with bond events and electron flow
- →Drawing hints for each curvy arrow
- →Classification + stereochemistry summary
- →Energy / thermodynamic commentary
- →Citations to chapters in standard textbooks
What it looks like
An illustration of the kind of answer Clara gives, laid out the way the live tool shows it.
Reaction
Solvolysis of (S)-3-bromo-3-methylhexane in water (hydrolysis under neutral, polar protic conditions).
Step 1
Rate-determiningCurvy arrow: electrons of the C–Br bond depart with bromine
Bond event
Heterolytic cleavage of the C–Br bond. The substrate ionises to a tertiary carbocation (the 3-methylhexan-3-yl cation) and bromide.
Electron flow
Both electrons of the C–Br σ bond leave with bromine (heterolysis). C3 becomes sp² hybridised and trigonal planar, with an empty p orbital perpendicular to the plane of the three alkyl groups.
Reasoning
Tertiary substrates strongly favour SN1 because the cation is stabilised by hyperconjugation from seven β C–H bonds (three on the methyl group and two on each neighbouring CH₂) and by inductive donation from three alkyl groups. Water is polar protic: it stabilises both the developing cation (ion–dipole interactions) and the bromide (hydrogen bonding). This is the rate-determining step; by Hammond's postulate the transition state resembles the cation, so anything that stabilises the cation speeds up the reaction.
+2 more steps, classification, stereochemistry, and textbook references…
Example ask
“Solvolysis of (S)-3-bromo-3-methylhexane in water — what's the mechanism and what happens to the stereochemistry?”
Other tools
Grader
Exam-style questions, marked point by point against a detailed mark scheme.
Concept Q&A
Ask anything — orbital theory, reactivity, stereochemistry, kinetics.
Pathway Explainer
Biochemical pathways with regulation, cofactors, and thermodynamics.
Paper Helper
Upload a paper — get a summary, or find exactly where a term appears.