Bromination of Alkane

C. Bromination
Sample Final Appearance of mixture Final Appearance of mixture
Not exposed to light exposed to light

This page guides you through the mechanism for the substitution of one of the
hydrogen atoms in methane by one bromine atom. Multiple substitution is covered
separately, and you will find a link at the bottom of the page.

We are going to talk through this mechanism in a very detailed way so that you get a
feel for what is going on. You couldn't possibly do the same thing in an exam. At the
bottom of the page, you will find the condensed down version corresponding to the
sort of answer you would produce in an exam.

The role of the UV light

The ultraviolet light is simply a source of energy, and is being used to break bonds. In
fact, the energies in UV are exactly right to break the bonds in bromine molecules to
produce bromine atoms.

Note: Only the outer electrons of the bromine are shown. Notice also
that it is quite acceptable to use a simple view of atomic structure.
There is no point in using a complicated model of the atom if a simple
one will do the job.

Because we want to stress the fact that the bromine atoms have single unpaired
electrons, then we call them bromine free radicals - or more usually just bromine
radicals.

To show that a species (either an atom or a group of atoms) is a free radical, the
symbol is written with a dot attached to show the unpaired electron. The splitting of the
bromine molecule would be shown as: