12 Facts About Hammond's postulate

Hammond's postulate, is a hypothesis in physical organic chemistry which describes the geometric structure of the transition state in an organic chemical reaction.

Hammond's postulate helps to explain and rationalize the Bell–Evans–Polanyi principle.

Hammond's postulate explains this observation by describing how varying the enthalpy of a reaction would change the structure of the transition state.

However, Hammond's postulate version has received more attention since its qualitative nature was easier to understand and employ than Leffler's complex mathematical equations.

Hammond's postulate is sometimes called the Hammond–Leffler postulate to give credit to both scientists.

One other useful interpretation of the Hammond's postulate often found in textbooks of organic chemistry is the following:.

Hammond's postulate can be used to examine the structure of the transition states of a SN1 reaction.

Technically, Hammond's postulate only describes the geometric structure of a chemical reaction.

However, Hammond's postulate indirectly gives information about the rate, kinetics, and activation energy of reactions.

Hammond's postulate is useful for understanding the relationship between the rate of a reaction and the stability of the products.

Hammond's postulate connects the rate of a reaction process with the structural features of those states that form part of it, by saying that the molecular reorganizations have to be small in those steps that involve two states that are very close in energy.

Hammond's postulate is especially important when looking at the rate-limiting step of a reaction.