Water Attack on Acid Halides

Acid halides react with water in a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction to form carboxylic acids. This reaction happens readily and does not need an acid catalyst or a base catalyst.

The mechanism begins when water acts as a nucleophile and attacks the carbonyl carbon. This forms a tetrahedral...

Hydrolysis of acid halides is a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction, where an acid halide reacts with water to form a carboxylic acid.

Since acid halides are very reactive, the hydrolysis does not require an acid or a base catalyst.

The mechanism proceeds in three steps. The first step is the nucleophilic attack by water at the...