Question

I need to find the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital for this reaction. I'm not really sure where to start. I think it might be an SN2 reaction but I don't even know or how that helps. If anyone can walk me through the process that would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

In an SN2 reaction, the HOMO is the highest energy orbital involved in the nucleophilic attack, while the LUMO is the lowest energy orbital available to accept an electron.

Step-by-step explanation:

The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) refers to the orbital in a molecule that contains the highest energy electrons. In the case of a substitution nucleophilic (SN2) reaction, the nucleophile attacks the molecule at the carbon atom, breaking the bond between the carbon and the leaving group. The HOMO of the molecule will typically be the highest energy orbital associated with the carbon atom at which the nucleophile attacks.

On the other hand, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) refers to the orbital in a molecule that has the lowest energy but is unoccupied. In the SN2 reaction, the LUMO of the molecule will typically be the lowest energy orbital that is empty and available to accept an electron from the nucleophile.