Aromatic Compound Synthesis Calculator

Select a reactant and a reagent to see the product of a reaction, or select a reactant and a product to search for a pathway. Once the pathway is displayed, click on a step number to see the product of that particular step. how it works caveats

With this selection box, you can create your own compounds. To change a substituent, select it from the list and click on the carbon where you want the group to appear. If you click on a carbon already having the selected group, that position will revert to H. If the name can be determined easily, it will appear in the appropriate reaction or product selection box.

How It Works: Retrosynthetic Analysis

This calculator works from a database containing information about the ortho/para- and meta-directing ability of groups around a benzene ring. When you select a reagent and then click on "React," a calculation is done that returns the most probable location of reaction for an electrophile. When you click on "Synthesize," all possible reactions leading to the desired product (from anything) are determined. Only reactions that are compatible with the pre-existing functional groups of the reactant are considered. If the reactant is found, then a one-step reaction is returned. If the desired reactant is not found, then all of the reactants of those reactions are considered possible "synthetic intermediates," and the process is repeated for reactions leading to them. This process is repeated up to five times, at which point the program has either found a route or gives up.

Caveats

Ortho products are not displayed even though they may, in fact, be the major product. Many of these reactions would give mixtures. Benzyne intermediates are not considered. It's a pretty good calculator, but it can make mistakes. Chemical reactivity isn't really quite this predictable.