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When an alkyl halide reacts with a nucleophile, two competing pathways are possible. In substitution, the nucleophile displaces the halogen to form a substitution product. In elimination, the nucleophile acts as a Lewis base, abstracting a neighboring hydrogen to form an alkene. The reaction pathway depends on reaction conditions and the nucleophile's strength.

Elimination reactions are called beta-elimination because they involve the loss of a hydrogen atom from the beta carbon, which is adjacent to the alpha carbon bonded to the leaving group. Since atoms are removed from adjacent carbons, the reaction is also termed 1,2-elimination. This nomenclature reflects the positional relationship between the atoms being eliminated.

E2 reactions proceed via a single concerted step where the base abstracts the beta hydrogen while the carbon-halogen bond simultaneously breaks, forming one transition state. E1 reactions occur in two steps: first, the alkyl halide ionizes to form a carbocation intermediate, then the base deprotonates the carbocation to form the alkene. E1 involves two transition states.

Common bases used in elimination reactions include hydroxides such as sodium hydroxide, alkoxides like potassium tert-butoxide, and alcohols like ethanol. Strong bases such as sodium ethoxide are particularly effective for E2 reactions. These bases function as Lewis bases by donating electron pairs to abstract protons from the beta carbon.

When an alkyl halide has two different beta carbons, elimination can produce multiple alkenes. The Zaitsev product is the more substituted and most stable alkene, which is typically the major product. The Hofmann product is the less substituted alkene. The choice of base influences which regioselective product predominates in the reaction.

Elimination reactions favor the formation of trans-alkenes over cis-isomers, making them stereoselective. This preference arises from the reaction mechanism and the relative stability of the resulting double bond geometries. Trans-alkenes are more stable due to reduced steric hindrance between substituents on the double bond.

Dehydrohalogenation is the specific type of elimination reaction that occurs with alkyl halides, involving the loss of one hydrogen atom and one halogen atom to form an alkene. The term describes the removal of a hydrogen and a halide from adjacent carbons, resulting in the formation of a pi bond between the alpha and beta carbon positions.