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Friedel–Crafts acylation template
Premium template. Preview and edit it free in MolDraw; downloading and exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro.
AlCl₃ turns acetyl chloride into an acylium ion; benzene attacks it and loses a proton to give acetophenone.
Mechanism step by step
Acylium ion formation, attack by the ring, restoration of aromaticity
- Acylium ion – AlCl₃ pulls off chloride
- Electrophilic attack – The ring attacks: an arenium ion forms
- Deprotonation – Loss of H⁺ restores aromaticity
Key points
- The acylium ion does not rearrange (unlike alkylation).
- The product ketone deactivates the ring: no second acylation.
- AlCl₃ binds the product ketone, so a full equivalent is used.
- Strongly deactivated rings (nitrobenzene) do not react.
Drawn with 75 atoms, 9 arrows, 7 shapes – every one editable in MolDraw.
Sources
How to use this template
- Press Edit in MolDraw. The template opens on the canvas of the free MolDraw editor.
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Frequently asked questions
Is the Friedel–Crafts acylation template free?
You can preview the Friedel–Crafts acylation template here and open and edit it in MolDraw for free. Downloading or exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro, together with the other premium templates.
Can I edit the Friedel–Crafts acylation template?
Yes. It opens as an ordinary MolDraw drawing, so every structure, arrow, label and colour can be changed, and you can add your own content around it.
Is the chemistry checked?
Every structure is checked with RDKit and every curly arrow passes MolDraw’s electron-flow audit. The sources used are listed on this page.
Which name reactions are included?
Over seventy, covering the reactions most often asked in school-leaving exams (A-level, IB, CBSE, JEE and NEET) and first-year university courses, including condensations, rearrangements, oxidations, reductions and aromatic substitutions.