Named Reactions in Organic Chemistry for Class 12, JEE and NEET

ChemistryFor JEE and NEET aspirants

A named reaction carries the name of the chemist who reported it, and exams use the name as a short way of asking for the reagents, the product and the mechanism. Each page below draws the mechanism step by step and gives the conditions, worked examples, exam traps and the questions from our past papers that test it.

Every row lists the reagents and what the reaction does, so the list also works as a quick revision sheet.

Reaction	Reagents and conditions	What it does	PYQs
Aldol condensation	Dilute NaOH (or acid), then heat	A carbonyl compound with α-H adds to a C=O: a β-hydroxy aldehyde or ketone, which loses water on heating	19
Cannizzaro reaction	Concentrated NaOH or KOH	An aldehyde with no α-H gives an alcohol and a carboxylate salt	10
Carbylamine reaction	$CHC l_{3}$ and alcoholic KOH, warm	1° amine gives the isocyanide R-NC (foul smell)	11
Clemmensen and Wolff-Kishner reduction	Zn-Hg, conc. HCl; or $N H_{2} N H_{2}$ , then KOH in ethylene glycol, heat	Aldehyde or ketone C=O becomes $C H_{2}$	8
Friedel-Crafts reaction	R-Cl or RCOCl with anhydrous $AlC l_{3}$	Alkyl or acyl group on a benzene ring	16
Grignard reagent	RMgX in dry ether, then $H_{3} O^{+}$	New C-C bond: alcohols from carbonyl compounds, acids from $C O_{2}$	16
Haloform reaction	$X_{2}$ and NaOH (NaOX); $I_{2}$ and NaOH for the iodoform test	Methyl ketone gives $CH X_{3}$ and RCOONa (one C fewer)	15
Hoffmann bromamide degradation	$B r_{2}$ and NaOH (or KOH), warm	$RCON H_{2}$ gives $RN H_{2}$ , one carbon fewer	15
Kolbe reaction	Sodium phenoxide, $C O_{2}$ , 400 K, 4-7 atm, then acid; or electrolysis of RCOONa	Salicylic acid; or the alkane R-R	7
Markovnikov's rule	HX added to an unsymmetrical alkene	H goes to the carbon with more H; with HBr and peroxide, the reverse	20
Ozonolysis	(i) $O_{3}$ (ii) Zn, $H_{2} O$	Each C=C carbon becomes C=O: aldehydes and ketones	16
Reimer-Tiemann reaction	Phenol, $CHC l_{3}$ , aq. NaOH, 340 K, then acid	Salicylaldehyde (CHO ortho to OH)	2
Sandmeyer reaction	Diazonium salt with $C u_{2} C l_{2}$ /HCl, $C u_{2} B r_{2}$ /HBr or CuCN/KCN	ArCl, ArBr or ArCN, with loss of $N_{2}$	14
SN1 reaction	3°, benzylic or allylic halide; weak nucleophile in a polar protic solvent	Substitution through a carbocation; racemisation	14
SN2 reaction	Methyl or 1° halide; strong nucleophile, polar aprotic solvent	Substitution in one step with inversion	26
Wurtz reaction	Na, dry ether	R-X gives R-R; aryl halides give biaryls (Fittig)	10

PYQs: questions from our past papers (JEE Main 2025-2026, JEE Advanced 2022-2026, NEET 2018-2019, 2022-2026) that test the reaction, each checked by hand.

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