What is Electrocyclic reaction?
An '''electrocyclic reaction''' is a specific kind of [[chemical reaction]]. It is known from [[organic chemistry]], a branch of [[chemistry]]. An electrocyclic reaction is a type of [[pericyclic reaction|pericyclic]] [[rearrangement reaction]]. The [[net result]] of an electrocyclic reaction is: *One [[pi bond]] gets changed (or converted) into one [[sigma bond]];<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iupac.org/goldbook/E01948.pdf|encyclopedia=IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology|edition=Second|date=1997|title=electrocyclic reaction|accessdate=2011-09-21|archive-date=2007-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609213255/http://www.iupac.org/goldbook/E01948.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> or *One sigma bond gets converted into one pi bond. <!--In [[organic chemistry]], an '''electrocyclic reaction''' is a type of [[pericyclic reaction|pericyclic]] [[rearrangement reaction]]. The reaction is electrocyclic if the result is one [[pi bond]] becoming one [[sigma bond]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iupac.org/goldbook/E01948.pdf|encyclopedia=IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology|edition=Second|date=1997|title=electrocyclic reaction|accessdate=2011-09-21|archive-date=2007-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609213255/http://www.iupac.org/goldbook/E01948.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> or one sigma bond becoming a pi bond.-->Electrocyclic reactions share the following [[property|properties]]: * electrocyclic reactions are driven by light ([[photochemistry|photoinduced]]) or [[heat]] * the [[Chemical reaction|reaction]] mode is determined by the number of [[pi electrons]] in the part with more pi bonds * an electrocyclic reaction can close a ring{{clarify}} ('''electrocyclization''') or open a ring * the [[stereospecific|stereospecifity]] is determined by a [[Conrotatory and disrotatory|conrotatory]] or a [[Conrotatory and disrotatory|disrotatory]] [[transition state]] formation as predicted by the [[Woodward–Hoffmann rules]]. ==Noted examples== The [[Nazarov cyclization reaction]]