Question

What product is formed when benzene is treated with the following organic halide in the presence of alcl3?

Answer 1

The product formed when benzene is treated with chloroethane in the presence of AlCl₃ is ethylbenzene.

Step-by-step explanation:

When benzene is treated with chloroethane in the presence of AlCl₃, the product formed is ethylbenzene. The reaction takes place via an electrophilic aromatic substitution mechanism, where the electrophile (chloroethane) replaces one of the hydrogen atoms on the benzene ring.

For example:

benzene + chloroethane + AlCl₃ → ethylbenzene + HCl

Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

This is an example of a Friedel-Crafts alkylation.

Since no organic halide is provided, we'll use an example of how benzene reacts with chloroethane, for instance.

Benzene is not reactive, therefore, we require a catalyst for such a reaction, typically either aluminum chloride or iron(III) chloride. It provides a pathway to add an alkyl chain to the benzene ring by removing the halogen present in the R-Cl molecule.

The mechanism is summarized by:

• a catalyst (aluminum chloride or iron(III) chloride is required);
• benzene is a reagent;
• alkyl chloride is another reagent;
• chlorine is removed from the alkyl chain and the latter substitutes one hydrogen of the benzene ring.

This is a so-called electrophilic substitution mechanism. To illustrate it with my example, I'm providing an image below.