{"id":5944,"date":"2012-09-10T12:02:15","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T16:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/?p=5944"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:09:15","slug":"elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Elimination reactions are often in competition with substitution reactions<\/li>\n<li>Generally speaking, adding\u00a0<strong>heat<\/strong> tends to increase the proportion of\u00a0<strong>elimination\u00a0<\/strong>products relative to\u00a0<strong>substitution\u00a0<\/strong>products<\/li>\n<li>The reason is that elimination results in a greater number of species in solution, which increases entropy, (\u0394S) and increasing temperature T makes the \u2013T\u0394S term in the Gibbs free energy equation, larger.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-38589\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif\" alt=\"elimination reactions are favored by heat summary has to do with species in solution more entropy for elimination\" width=\"640\" height=\"527\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#one\">All Else Being Equal, Elimination Reactions Are Favored Over Substitution Reactions With Increasing Heat<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#two\">Heating Results In A Gradual Increase In Elimination Versus Substitution<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#three\">Elimination Reactions Result In An Increase In The Number Of Species In Solution; Substitution Reactions Do Not<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#four\">Increasing Number Of Species In Solution Means Greater Entropy, Which Means That The \u2013T\u0394S Term In The Gibbs Equation Increases In Value As Temperature (T) Is Increased<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#notes\">Notes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#quizzes\">Quiz Yourself!\u00a0<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#references\">(Advanced) References and Further Reading<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><a id=\"one\"><\/a>1. All Else Being Equal, Elimination Reactions Are Favored Over Substitution Reactions With Increasing Heat<\/h2>\n<p>A few posts back we saw how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/08\/28\/walkthrough-of-elimination-reactions-1\/\">elimination reactions are often in competition with substitution reactions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>How do we know when one reaction pathway is going to be preferred over another? As we&#8217;ll see, there are going to be several components to answering this question fully, but today we&#8217;ll talk about one simple rule of thumb going forward.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s say you have a reaction like this one. It&#8217;s possible for <strong>substitution<\/strong> or <strong>elimination<\/strong> products to be formed (I&#8217;m keeping the identity of the base and substrate vague here).<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14848\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/1-competing-substitution-and-elimination-reactions-in-secondary-alkyl-halide-which-one-dominates.gif\" alt=\"competing substitution and elimination reactions in secondary alkyl halide which one dominates\" width=\"600\" height=\"258\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As temperature is increased, the <strong>relative<\/strong> amount of <strong>elimination<\/strong> <strong>products<\/strong> will increase relative to substitution products. You can imagine it looking like this.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14849\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2-in-competition-between-substitution-and-elimination-the-amount-of-elimination-increases-with-heat.gif\" alt=\"in competition between substitution and elimination the amount of elimination increases with heat\" width=\"600\" height=\"294\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"two\"><\/a>2. Heating Results In A Gradual Increase In Elimination Versus Substitution<\/h2>\n<p>Notice again how organic chemistry works. It&#8217;s not as if applying heat is an on\/off switch that results in a reaction going from 100% substitution to 100% elimination. Instead, increasing temperature results in a <strong>gradual<\/strong> increase in elimination products relative to substitution. That&#8217;s because temperature is <strong>gradually<\/strong> leading to an increase in the rate constant for elimination versus rate constant for substitution.<\/p>\n<p>So what&#8217;s going on here?<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s one thing we can say with confidence: at <em>low temperatures<\/em>, the activation energy for the substitution reaction is lower than that for the elimination reaction. Remember that<em> the lower the activation energy, the higher the rate of the reaction<\/em>. This might help to explain our product distribution: as we increase the temperature, more energy is available, so that the starting materials can ascend the activation barrier to provide elimination reactions also. This fits with what is observed.<\/p>\n<p>However, there&#8217;s an even more fundamental reason why we might see more elimination products as heat is increased, and it has to do with some properties we know about thermodynamics that make rate constants (and activation energies) temperature dependent.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"three\"><\/a>3. Elimination Reactions Result In An Increase In The Number Of Species In Solution; Substitution Reactions Do Not<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s look again at the (generic) reactions:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14850\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/3-in-elimination-heat-is-favored-because-greater-number-of-products-formed-greater-entropy.gif\" alt=\"in elimination heat is favored because greater number of products formed greater entropy\" width=\"600\" height=\"550\" \/><\/p>\n<p>What do we notice here? Notice that the substitution reaction we&#8217;re going from 2 species in the starting material to 2 species in the product. But in the elimination reaction, <strong>we&#8217;re going from 2 species in the starting material to 3 species in the product<\/strong>. An increase!<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"four\"><\/a>4. Increasing Number Of Species In Solution Means Greater Entropy, Which Means That The \u2013T\u0394S Term In The Gibbs Equation Increases In Value As Temperature (T) Is Increased<\/h2>\n<p>Since we&#8217;re birthing a new species in solution here, that&#8217;s going to result in an<strong> increase in entropy<\/strong>. And if you think waaay back to general chemistry, the Gibbs equation told us this relationship:<\/p>\n<p>\u0394G =\u00a0\u00a0\u0394H \u2013 T\u00a0\u0394S<\/p>\n<p>Remember that the more negative \u0394G is, the more favorable the reaction. As temperature increases, that T\u0394S term is going to start getting bigger and bigger; this will make \u0394 G more and more negative. At some point, as temperature is increased, the \u0394G for elimination will become more negative than delta G for substitution.<strong> In other words, more favorable.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14851\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/4-delta-g-equals-delta-h-minus-t-delta-s-as-t-increases-the-reaction-with-more-delta-s-is-more-favorable.gif\" alt=\"delta g equals delta h minus t delta s as t increases the reaction with more delta s is more favorable\" width=\"600\" height=\"244\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One thing to be careful about though! When we&#8217;re discussing\u00a0\u0394G, we really should be talking about the \u0394G of the<strong> transition state<\/strong>, not that of the final product. <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Why not? Because the stability of the<strong> products<\/strong> isn&#8217;t directly related to reaction rate<\/span><em> (if it was, our bodies would have combusted to CO<sub>2<\/sub> and H<sub>2<\/sub>O a long time ago!)]<\/em><\/span>. We give a special designation to thermodynamic terms of\u00a0the transition state &#8211; we put a little double-dagger on them. Like this:\u00a0\u0394G\u2021 \u00a0. This &#8220;<strong>Gibbs energy of activation<\/strong>&#8221; is how we define the activation energy of a reaction.<\/p>\n<p>So you can see by analyzing this term that activation energy can change with temperature!<\/p>\n<p>At low temperatures, the Gibbs energy of activation for substitution \u00a0(\u0394G\u2021)\u00a0is lower in energy (more negative) than that for elimination. \u00a0But\u00a0<strong>at high temperatures<\/strong>, the Gibbs energy of activation (\u00a0\u0394G\u2021\u00a0) for elimination starts to be <strong>lower<\/strong> in energy than that for substitution reactions, and hence we get an increase in the amount of elimination product.<\/p>\n<p>\u0394G<sup>\u2021<\/sup>=\u00a0\u0394H\u2021\u2013T\u0394S<sup>\u2021<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Again,<strong> the bottom line is that, all else being equal,\u00a0 heat will tend to favor elimination reactions.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/12\/two-types-of-elimination-reactions\/\"><strong>Next Post: Two Types of Elimination Reactions<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><a id=\"notes\"><\/a>Notes<\/h2>\n<div class=\"related-articles\"><p><strong>Related Articles<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/12\/two-types-of-elimination-reactions\/\" class=\"\"><span>Two Elimination Reaction Patterns<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/11\/08\/comparing-the-e1-and-sn1-reactions\/\" class=\"\"><span>Comparing the E1 vs SN1 Reactions<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/12\/19\/deciding-sn1sn2e1e2-4-the-temperature\/\" class=\"\"><span>Deciding SN1\/SN2\/E1\/E2 (4) \u2013 The Temperature<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/19\/the-e1-reaction\/\" class=\"\"><span>The E1 Reaction<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/27\/the-e2-mechanism\/\" class=\"\"><span>The E2 Mechanism<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/organic-chemistry-practice-problems\/elimination-e1-practice-problems-and-solutions\/\" class=\"\"><span>Elimination (E1) Practice Problems And Solutions<\/span><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/organic-chemistry-practice-problems\/elimination-e2-practice-problems-and-solutions\/\" class=\"\"><span>Elimination (E2) Practice Problems and Solutions<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><a id=\"quizzes\"><\/a>Quiz Yourself!<\/h2>\n<p><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36214 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quiz-previews\/3577-Front-Image-Only.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/moc-membership\/\"><strong>Become a MOC member<\/strong><\/a> to see the clickable quiz with answers on the back.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36214 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quiz-previews\/2634-Front-Image-Only.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/moc-membership\/\"><strong>Become a MOC member<\/strong><\/a> to see the clickable quiz with answers on the back.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36214 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quiz-previews\/2637-Front-Image-Only.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/moc-membership\/\"><strong>Become a MOC member<\/strong><\/a> to see the clickable quiz with answers on the back.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36214 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quiz-previews\/2680-Front-Image-Only.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/moc-membership\/\"><strong>Become a MOC member<\/strong><\/a> to see the clickable quiz with answers on the back.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36214 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quiz-previews\/3075-Front-Image-Only.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/moc-membership\/\"><strong>Become a MOC member<\/strong><\/a> to see the clickable quiz with answers on the back.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-36214 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quiz-previews\/2662-Front-Image-Only.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/moc-membership\/\"><strong>Become a MOC member<\/strong><\/a> to see the clickable quiz with answers on the back.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><a id=\"references\"><\/a>(Advanced) References and Further Reading<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong> Mechanism of elimination reactions. Part VII. Solvent effects on rates and product-proportions in uni- and bi-molecular substitution and elimination reactions of alkyl halides and sulphonium salts in hydroxylic solvents<br \/>\n<\/strong>K. A. Cooper, M. L. Dhar, E. D. Hughes, C. K. Ingold, B. J. MacNulty and L. I. Woolf<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><em>J. Chem. Soc.<\/em> <strong>1948<\/strong>, 2043-2049<strong><br \/>\nDOI: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/en\/content\/articlelanding\/1948\/jr\/jr9480002043\/unauth#!divAbstract\">10.1039\/JR9480002043<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong> Mechanism of elimination reactions. Part VIII. Temperature effects on rates and product-proportions in uni- and bi-molecular substitution and elimination reactions of alkyl halides and sulphonium salts in hydroxylic solvents<br \/>\n<\/strong>K. A. Cooper, E. D. Hughes, C. K. Ingold, and B. J. MacNulty<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><em>J. Chem. Soc.<\/em><strong> 1948, <\/strong>2049-2054<strong><br \/>\nDOI: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/en\/content\/articlelanding\/1948\/jr\/jr9480002049#!divAbstract\">10.1039\/JR9480002049<\/a><br \/>\nThis is the key paper here. Ingold states: \u201c[..] <em>for any given pair of simultaneous bimolecular processes, the elimination has, in each of the investigated cases, an Arrhenius energy of activation which lies higher than that of the accompanying substitution by 1-2 kcal\/g.-mol. The elimination thus has always the larger temperature coefficient, so that a rise of temperature increases the proportions in which olefin is formed<\/em>.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong> Mechanism of elimination reactions. Part X. Kinetics of olefin elimination from isopropyl, sec.-butyl, 2-n-amyl, and 3-n-amyl bromides in acidic and alkaline alcoholic media<br \/>\n<\/strong>M. L. Dhar, E. D. Hughes, and C. K. Ingold<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><em>J. Chem. Soc.<\/em><strong> 1948<\/strong>, 2058-2065<strong><br \/>\nDOI: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/en\/content\/articlelanding\/1948\/JR\/jr9480002058#!divAbstract\">10.1039\/JR9480002058<\/a><br \/>\nNice example of the influence of heat on elimination. Table I in this paper shows that solvolysis of 2-bromobutane with 1 M NaOEt in ethanol gives 82% yield of alkene at 25 \u00b0C, but similar solvolysis at 80 \u00b0C gives 91.4% yield of alkene.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat Elimination reactions are often in competition with substitution reactions Generally speaking, adding\u00a0heat tends to increase the proportion of\u00a0elimination\u00a0products relative <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1415],"tags":[873,471,872,201,871,825,874,279],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-5944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elimination-reactions","tag-activation-energy","tag-base","tag-competing-reactions","tag-elimination","tag-gibbs-energy","tag-nucleophile","tag-rate-constants","tag-substitution"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat &#8211; Master Organic Chemistry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Elimination reactions tend to be favored by heat (versus substitution) since they result in a greater number of species and have a higher entropy term.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat &#8211; Master Organic Chemistry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Elimination reactions tend to be favored by heat (versus substitution) since they result in a greater number of species and have a higher entropy term.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Master Organic Chemistry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Master-Organic-Chemistry-242610599108055\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-10T16:02:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-07T15:09:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"864\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"712\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Ashenhurst\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Ashenhurst\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Ashenhurst\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78d83ec7d02b4b7365bade2cedaef80c\"},\"headline\":\"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-10T16:02:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-07T15:09:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1289,\"commentCount\":16,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif\",\"keywords\":[\"activation energy\",\"base\",\"competing reactions\",\"elimination\",\"gibbs energy\",\"nucleophile\",\"rate constants\",\"substitution\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Elimination Reactions\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat &#8211; Master Organic Chemistry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-10T16:02:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-07T15:09:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Elimination reactions tend to be favored by heat (versus substitution) since they result in a greater number of species and have a higher entropy term.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif\",\"width\":864,\"height\":712,\"caption\":\"elimination reactions are favored by heat summary has to do with species in solution more entropy for elimination\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/10\\\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Master Organic Chemistry\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Master Organic Chemistry\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/cutmypic.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/cutmypic.png\",\"width\":225,\"height\":225,\"caption\":\"Master Organic Chemistry\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Master-Organic-Chemistry-242610599108055\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78d83ec7d02b4b7365bade2cedaef80c\",\"name\":\"James Ashenhurst\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9e9df435875e5e6b0bdff6b8522a7279d5717644b3efa7299da22c837bf9fcf?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9e9df435875e5e6b0bdff6b8522a7279d5717644b3efa7299da22c837bf9fcf?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f9e9df435875e5e6b0bdff6b8522a7279d5717644b3efa7299da22c837bf9fcf?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Ashenhurst\"},\"description\":\"Ph.D. 2006, McGill University (James L. Gleason). Postdoctoral Associate, 2008-2010, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M. Movassaghi). Founder, Master Organic Chemistry, 2010-present.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/about\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\\\/author\\\/james\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat &#8211; Master Organic Chemistry","description":"Elimination reactions tend to be favored by heat (versus substitution) since they result in a greater number of species and have a higher entropy term.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat &#8211; Master Organic Chemistry","og_description":"Elimination reactions tend to be favored by heat (versus substitution) since they result in a greater number of species and have a higher entropy term.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/","og_site_name":"Master Organic Chemistry","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Master-Organic-Chemistry-242610599108055\/","article_published_time":"2012-09-10T16:02:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-07T15:09:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":864,"height":712,"url":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif","type":"image\/gif"}],"author":"James Ashenhurst","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Ashenhurst","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/"},"author":{"name":"James Ashenhurst","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78d83ec7d02b4b7365bade2cedaef80c"},"headline":"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat","datePublished":"2012-09-10T16:02:15+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-07T15:09:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/"},"wordCount":1289,"commentCount":16,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif","keywords":["activation energy","base","competing reactions","elimination","gibbs energy","nucleophile","rate constants","substitution"],"articleSection":["Elimination Reactions"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/","url":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/","name":"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat &#8211; Master Organic Chemistry","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif","datePublished":"2012-09-10T16:02:15+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-07T15:09:15+00:00","description":"Elimination reactions tend to be favored by heat (versus substitution) since they result in a greater number of species and have a higher entropy term.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0-elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat-summary-has-to-do-with-species-in-solution-more-entropy-for-elimination.gif","width":864,"height":712,"caption":"elimination reactions are favored by heat summary has to do with species in solution more entropy for elimination"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/2012\/09\/10\/elimination-reactions-are-favored-by-heat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Elimination Reactions Are Favored By Heat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/","name":"Master Organic Chemistry","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#organization","name":"Master Organic Chemistry","url":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cutmypic.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cutmypic.png","width":225,"height":225,"caption":"Master Organic Chemistry"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Master-Organic-Chemistry-242610599108055\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78d83ec7d02b4b7365bade2cedaef80c","name":"James Ashenhurst","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9e9df435875e5e6b0bdff6b8522a7279d5717644b3efa7299da22c837bf9fcf?s=96&d=retro&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9e9df435875e5e6b0bdff6b8522a7279d5717644b3efa7299da22c837bf9fcf?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9e9df435875e5e6b0bdff6b8522a7279d5717644b3efa7299da22c837bf9fcf?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"James Ashenhurst"},"description":"Ph.D. 2006, McGill University (James L. Gleason). Postdoctoral Associate, 2008-2010, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M. Movassaghi). Founder, Master Organic Chemistry, 2010-present.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/about\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5944"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masterorganicchemistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=5944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}