Mechanism problem templates (SN1, SN2, E1, E2)

Each mechanism template makes problems where students draw the curved arrows, and every problem is graded automatically.

Steps

1. Choose Main menu › File › New problem set.

2. Under Where should the problems come from?, choose From a template, then Organic chemistry.

3. Tick the mechanism templates you want.

   

4. Set Problems per kind, the difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard) and the level (High school, Undergraduate, Graduate).

5. Press Pick templates.

The mechanism templates

Template	What students draw
SN2 mechanism	Curved arrows for a nucleophile displacing a halide from a primary carbon
E2 mechanism	Curved arrows for a strong base eliminating HX to give an alkene
SN1 mechanism	A tertiary halide ionizes, the solvent adds to the carbocation, the oxonium ion loses a proton
SN1 with a hydride shift	SN1 through a secondary carbocation that rearranges by a 1,2-hydride shift
E1 mechanism	A tertiary halide ionizes, then the solvent takes a β proton to give the alkene
E1 with a hydride shift	E1 through a secondary carbocation that rearranges by a 1,2-hydride shift
Proton transfer mechanism	Curved arrows for an acid-base reaction, one step
Cyanohydrin formation mechanism	Cyanide adds to an aldehyde or ketone, then HCN protonates the alkoxide: two steps
Hydride addition mechanism	Hydride from NaBH₄ adds to an aldehyde or ketone, then ethanol protonates the alkoxide: two steps

The SN1 or SN2 template asks students to choose the mechanism of a substitution in a sentence, without drawing arrows.

To draw a mechanism yourself, see How to draw curved arrows.