In organic and inorganic chemistry, nucleophilic substitution reactions are the most well studied and useful class of reactions. These reactions can occur by a range of mechanisms, the two studied in this lab are the SN1 and SN2 reactions. In a nucleophilic substitution, the nucleophile is a electron rich chemical species which attacks the positive charge of an atom to replace a leaving group. Since nucleophiles donate electrons, they are defined as Lewis bases. The positive or partially positive atom is referred to as an electrophile. The whole molecule which the electrophile and the leaving group are part of is called the substrate. The most general form of the reaction is represented as the following: Nuc: + R-LG → R-Nuc + LG: The lone pair on the nucleophile would attack the (R-LG) substrate, forming a new bond with the (R) resulting in the (LG) leaving the substrate with a lone pair. The product formed after the nucleophilic attack is (R-Nuc). After the nucleophilic substitution, the nucleophile can be neutral or carry a negative charge while the substrate can be neutral or positively charged. In this lab, a primary alcohol is converted to an alkyl bromide and a benzyl chloride into an ester using the SN2 reaction. Factors affecting the rates of both SN1 and SN2 reactions will also be investigated. In 1935, two scientists by the names of Sir Christopher Ignod and Edward D. Hughes, studied nucleophilic reactions of alkyl halides. Ignod first grouped organic reactions