Electrophilic Addition to Symmetrical Alkenes:

Reactions

 Many of the reactions which alkenes go through take place through a mechanism termed as electrophilic addition. In these reactions, the π bond of the double bond has been employed to create a bond to an incoming electrophile and is no longer available in the product. Additionally, a new substituent has been added to each of the carbon atoms.

Symmetrical and unsymmetrical alkenes:

In this part we shall look at the electrophilic addition of symmetrical alkenes. A symmetrical alkene is an alkene that has similar substituents at each end of the double bond. Unsymmetrical alkenes comprise dissimilar substituents at each end of the double bond.