Energy Diagrams - Example 1

The following is an example of a two-step reaction mechanism (i.e. Electrophilic Addition of H-X to Alkenes).

Since there are two steps, there will be two humps in the PES.  There will also be two transition states.

Action
  • Hover your mouse over the reaction arrows and observe the reaction energy diagram.  Do you see how each step (i.e. reaction arrow) corresponds to a "hump"?
  • Hover over each molecule one by one and observe where they lie on the reaction energy diagram.
  • The structures above each arrow are the transition states for each step.  Hover over each so you can see where they lie on the reaction energy diagram.