Addition Reactions

Professor Dave explains addition reactions, contrasting them with elimination reactions. He focuses on hydrogenation, where hydrogen atoms are added to carbons using transition metal catalysts like platinum. The video highlights the stereospecific nature of addition reactions, introducing terms like syn and anti. Syn addition results in groups being added from the same side, often leading to cis configurations in products. The distinction between syn/anti and cis/trans is emphasized, with syn/anti describing reaction mechanisms and cis/trans describing spatial relationships.

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