A large number of organic products can be produced from only a few initial compounds and the required reagents. For your exam you will need to be aware of the following organic pathways.
| Pathway | Reagents | Conditions | Equation | NB |
| alkane ? chloroalkane | chlorine | UV light | Example:CH4 + Cl2 ? CH3Cl + HCl | In this reaction a new functional groups is introduced onto the molecule |
| chloroalkane ? alcohol | aqueous NaOH | warm, reflux | R-Cl + NaOH ? R-OH + NaCl | |
| chloroalkane ? alkene | alcoholic KOH | heat, distillation | Example:CH3CH2Cl + KOH ? CH2=CH2 + KCl +H2O | |
| chloroalkane ? nitrile | aqueous KCN | heat, reflux | R-Cl + KCN ? R-CN + KCl | In this reaction an extra carbon atom is introduced onto the molecule |
| chloroalkane ? primary amine | excess ammonia | heat | R-Cl + 2NH3 ? R-NH2 + NH4Cl | |
| primary amine ? secondary amine | chloroalkane | warm | R1-NH2 + R2-Cl ? R1R2NH + HCl | |
| secondary amine ? tertiary amine | chloroalkane | warm | R1R2NH + R3-Cl ? R1R2R3N + HCl | |
| tertiary amine ? quaternary ammonium salt | chloroalkane | warm | R1R2R3N + R4-Cl ? R1R2R3R4N+Cl– | |
| alkene ? alkane | hydrogen,Ni catalyst | 150 |