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Activating Group

  • Page ID
    16562
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    If electrophilic aromatic substitution of a monosubstituted benzene is faster than that of benzene under identical conditions, the substituent in the monosubstituted benzene is called an activating group.

    eg:

    activatinggroup1.png

    Under identical conditions, Reaction 2 is faster than Reaction 1. Thus, the methyl group is an activating group.

    All activating groups are electron-donating groups.

    Common activating groups:

    activatinggroup2.png


    This page titled Activating Group is shared under a All Rights Reserved (used with permission) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gamini Gunawardena via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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