Single displacement reaction
Type of chemical reaction / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A single-displacement reaction, also known as single replacement reaction or exchange reaction, is an archaic concept in chemistry. It describes the stoichiometry of some chemical reactions in which one element or ligand is replaced by atom or group.[1][2][3]
It can be represented generically as:
where either
This will most often occur if is more reactive than , thus giving a more stable product. The reaction in that case is exergonic and spontaneous.
In the first case, when and are metals, and are usually aqueous compounds (or very rarely in a molten state) and is a spectator ion (i.e. remains unchanged).[1]
In the reactivity series, the metals with the highest propensity to donate their electrons to react are listed first, followed by less reactive ones. Therefore, a metal higher on the list can displace anything below it. Here is a condensed version of the same:[1]
- (Hydrogen, carbon and ammonium — labeled in gray — are not metals.)
Similarly, the halogens with the highest propensity to acquire electrons are the most reactive. The activity series for halogens is: [1][2][3]
Due to the free state nature of and , single displacement reactions are also redox reactions, involving the transfer of electrons from one reactant to another.[4] When and are metals, is always oxidized and is always reduced. Since halogens prefer to gain electrons, is reduced (from to ) and is oxidized (from to ).