Sciencemadness Discussion Board

chloride ammonia water

smartgene - 30-7-2016 at 17:12

I have a question if you got a chloride in your molecule which of these will attack it first : water or ammonia

j_sum1 - 30-7-2016 at 18:56

I don't think you will get a helpful answer to your question since your terms are unclear.

Chloride is an ion and not a molecule, nor even part of a molecule.
What do you mean by attack?
And what conditions are you proposing for your reaction? Under standard lab conditions, water is a liquid and ammonia is a gas. Or are you proposing an aqueous solution of ammonia with a chloride salt dissolved? In which case, nothing much will happen.
And, come to think of it, what do you mean by first? Are you proposing two reactions, one of which follows the other? Or maybe one reaction prevents the occurrence of the other or... what?

Metacelsus - 30-7-2016 at 19:11

Ammonia is a better nucleophile than water, if you're thinking about reactions with an alkyl chloride.

smartgene - 31-7-2016 at 18:05

I was thinking chloroalkane

DraconicAcid - 31-7-2016 at 18:16

Quote: Originally posted by smartgene  
I was thinking chloroalkane

Then ammonia is more likely to react with it than water. Unless it's tertiary, in which case it will depend on what's in higher concentration.