The rate of this reaction is markedly increased if a small amount of sodium iodide is added to the reaction mixture. The sodium iodide is not consumed by the reaction and is therefore considered to be a catalyst. Explain how the presence of iodide can speed up the rate of the reaction.

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Explanation:

SN2 reaction is a synchronous reaction in which the leaving group departs as the nucleophile is being attached to the substrate in a single step. This makes it imperative to use a good leaving group when carrying out an SN2 reaction such as the one shown in the question.

The addition of a small amount of NaI acts as a sort of external nucleophile which assists the departure of the leaving group thereby enabling the reaction to proceed faster. This occurs because the iodide ion is very good leaving group.

the law of conservation of mass states that in a chemical reaction, the total mass of reactants is equal to the total mass of products. because atoms are only rearranged in a chemical reaction, there must be the same number of sodium atoms and chlorine atoms in both the reactants and products

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