Halohydrin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A halohydrin is a type of chemical compound or functional group in which one carbon atom has a substituent of the halogen group in a carbon - carbon saturated covalent bond and the other carbon atom has a hydroxyl substituent. A simple halohydrin may look like this:

X-CH₂CH₂-OH

X = I, Br, F, Cl

Halohydrin formation:

• from an alkene in a halohydrin formation reaction
• from an epoxide by a hydrohalic acid.

Halohydrin reactions:

• In presence of a base like potassium hydroxide a halohydrin can undergo internal SN2 reaction to an epoxide. This is the reverse formation reaction from the epoxide.
• Epoxidation is also accomplished by Halohydrin Dehalogenase.