Electrophilic Addition Reactions

An addition reaction occurs when two molecules are joined to create a more complex compound; all of the atoms in the original molecules are usually incorporated into the larger one. Electrophilic addition involves the attack of a primary substrate by an electrophile. The substrate generally possesses a carbon-carbon double or triple bond.

One of the first named reactions featuring electrophilic addition was the Prilezhaev reaction, named after the Russian chemist Nikolai Alexandrovich Prilezhaev, who in 1909, was the first to use peroxycarboxylic acids to oxidize isolated double bonds to the corresponding oxiranes. Because of its wide utility, epoxidation is one of the most frequently used reactions in organic chemistry. Epoxides such as epichlorohydrin are used in the manufacture of epoxy resins, a group of adhesives.

• Noyori asymmetric hydrogenation
• Prilezhaev reaction
• Schwartz hydrozirconation
• Shi asymmetric epoxidation
• Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation

• Brown hydroboration reaction
• Davis oxaziridine oxidation
• Jacobsen-Katsuki epoxidation
• Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation