Can you help create a best-selling scent? Perfumes are everywhere — and so are aromatic compounds. In this simulation, you will learn about the electrophilic aromatic substitution, answer a variety of quiz questions, and then plan the synthesis of your favorite aromatic compound!

Understand the mechanism

If you’re making a perfume, electrophilic aromatic substitution is a key reaction when synthesizing an aromatic molecule of interest. You’ll start your experience in a pharmacy to learn about vanillin. Then you’ll be teleported to the virtual classroom to start your experience. Here, you’ll learn in an interactive way about the mechanism of the reaction, choosing the direction of movement of electrons and the key reagents.

Choose activators and deactivators

Once you’re familiar with the reaction on a benzene ring, you’ll move to the effects of directing groups when combining an electrophile with a mono substituted benzene ring. You’ll place the different substituents on a reactivity graph and choose the right product of reaction so that you’ll be able to characterize a substituent as an activator or deactivator and predict the correct products.

The stability of resonance structures

Understanding the mechanism is not enough when planning a synthetic route. In this activity you’ll have to connect the different resonance structures of a mono substituted benzene attacked by an electrophile with the concept of stability, to help predict the dominant structure at the end of the reaction. 

A real perfume-maker

Now that you’ve acquired all this knowledge, you’re ready to go into a real lab and plan the synthesis of your favorite aromatic compound. Will you create the new best-selling perfume?