Which is more reactive sp2 or sp3 carbon?

Answer 1

The more s character an atom has, the more stable it is and therefore the less reactive it is.

sp means 50/50 and is the least reactive and most stable type of bond.

sp2 means 1 part s and 2 parts p so the atom is in the s orbital 33% of the time and in the p orbital 66% of the time.

sp3 means 1 part s and 3 parts p so the atom is in the s orbiral 25% of the time and in the p orbital 75% of the time.

This applies if you think about your acid base reactions, the sp has the most delocalization of charge which stabilizes an acid, it is less likely to give up a proton (H). You can also consider bond length, sp has the shortest bond length which is the strongest and hardest to break meanwhile sp3 has the longest bond length so the atoms are held further apart and the attractive force holding them together is not as strong.

Answer 2

Sp2 carbon is typically more reactive than sp3 carbon because it has a higher degree of unsaturation and the electrons in the double bond are more available for reactions. The presence of pi electrons in the pi bond makes sp2 carbon more susceptible to nucleophilic and electrophilic attacks compared to sp3 carbon, which lacks pi bonds.

Answer 3

Sp2 carbon is more reactive than sp3 carbon. This is because sp2 hybridized carbon has a higher degree of s-character (33.3%) compared to sp3 hybridized carbon (25%). The higher s-character in sp2 carbon results in stronger bonds and increased reactivity towards nucleophiles and electrophiles.