C-X C-CL C-BR C - H: IR Spectroscopy Tutorial: Alkyl Halides
C-X C-CL C-BR C - H: IR Spectroscopy Tutorial: Alkyl Halides
C-X C-CL C-BR C - H: IR Spectroscopy Tutorial: Alkyl Halides
Alkyl halides are compounds that have a CX bond, where X is a halogen: bromine, chlorine, fluorene, or iodine
(usually Br or Cl in the organic chemistry teaching labs). In general, CX vibration frequencies appear in the region
850-515 cm-1, sometimes out of the range of typical IR instrumentation. CCl stretches appear from 850550 cm-1,
while CBr stretches appear at slightly lower wavenumbers from 690-515 cm-1. In terminal alkyl halides, the C
H wag of the CH2X group is seen from 1300-1150 cm-1. Complicating the spectra is a profusion of absorptions
throughout the region 1250-770 cm-1, especially in the smaller alkyl halides. Note that all of these bands are in the
fingerprint region.
In summary, the following bands are specific to alkyl halides:
The spectra of 1-bromopropane and 1-chloro-2-methylpropane are shown below. Note the CBr or CCl stretches in
the region 850-515 cm-1. They also show CBr or CCl wag in the region 1300-1150 cm-1.