SN1 vs SN2 — Nucleophilic Substitution
Set the substrate, nucleophile and solvent and watch the winning mechanism reshape the energy profile.
About this simulation
The classic SN1/SN2 decision, made interactive. Students choose the substrate class (methyl → tertiary), the nucleophile (weak/strong) and the solvent (polar protic/aprotic), and the reaction-coordinate diagram redraws: a single-barrier concerted SN2 profile when the carbon is open and the nucleophile strong, or a two-barrier SN1 profile through a carbocation intermediate when the cation is stabilised and the solvent protic. The dominant route is drawn bold with the other ghosted, and the rate law, molecularity, rate-determining step and stereochemistry (inversion vs racemisation) update live — so CH₃Br + OH⁻ running SN2 while tertiary halides in protic solvent run SN1 becomes something students see, with the 2° substrate the battleground where conditions tip the balance.