Polar protic solvents, such as water, alcohol, and acetic acid, are commonly used in SN₁ reactions.

Ambident nucleophiles, like cyanides and nitrites, have two nucleophilic centers. Cyanide can act through the carbon atom (⁻C≡N) or nitrogen atom (⁻:C=N⁻), forming alkyl cyanides or isocyanides. Similarly, nitrite ion can link through oxygen (⁻O—:N=O) to form alkyl nitrites or ...

Nucleophilic substitution reactions are valuable for alkyl halides with sp³ hybridized carbon. These reactions are initiated by nucleophiles, attacking the partially positively charged carbon atom in the haloalkane, resulting in substitution with the departing halide ion.

Nucleophiles are electron-rich species that attack the electron-deficient part of a substrate molecule, leading to nucleophilic substitution reactions. In these reactions, a nucleophile reacts with a haloalkane, replacing the existing nucleophile, and the departing halogen forms a halide ion.

Haloalkanes tend to dissolve in organic solvents because the new intermolecular attractions between haloalkanes and solvent molecules have similar strength to the attractions being broken in separate haloalkane and solvent molecules, leading to higher solubility in organic solvents.

Alkyl bromides are prepared by constant boiling with HBr (48%). This method ensures the synthesis of alkyl bromides in good yields by maintaining a consistent concentration of hydrobromic acid throughout the reaction.

The reactions of primary and secondary alcohols with HCl require the presence of the catalyst ZnCl₂. The catalyst aids in the conversion of alcohols into alkyl halides in the presence of hydrochloric acid.

Thionyl chloride is preferred because it forms alkyl halides along with escapable gases SO₂ and HCl, ensuring the production of pure alkyl halides. The gaseous products can be easily removed.

In the common system, dihalogen derivatives use prefixes o-, m-, p-, while in the IUPAC system, numerals 1,2; 1,3; and 1,4 are used to denote the positions of halogen atoms in the benzene ring.

The configuration is inverted during the SN₂ reaction as the attacking nucleophile attaches to the carbon, resembling an umbrella turning inside out in a strong wind. This inversion of configuration occurs in the transition state as the reaction progresses.