From where does nucleophile attack the ketone in a nucleophilic addition reaction ? [closed]








**Closed**. This question needs [details or clarity](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
 
 






---








**Want to improve this question?** Add details and clarify the problem by [editing this post](/posts/105668/edit).




Closed 4 years ago.








[Improve this question](/posts/105668/edit) 



I inserted a picture to help show where my misunderstanding lies. 
I know that in the nucleophilic addition of ketones and aldehydes , a racemix mixture is produced . And I know that the reason is that the molecule can be attacked by the nucleophile from “either side of the molecule” or “above and below”
But I can’t seem to picture that .
In the picture I added , I show the one place/direction of attack that makes sense to me , could someone please show me the other “side” ? 
![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/T0mDF.jpg)




Here's a link to an animation of cyanohydrin formation. You have to click on the reaction arrow and the individual step will play. <http://www.chemtube3d.com/Nucleophilic%20substitution%20at%20the%20carbonyl%20group%20-%20Cyanohydrin%20formation.html>


Since the carbonyl is completely planar, the nucleophile could either approach from the front or the back. While your diagram seems to indicate the nucleophile attacks in the same plane as the carbonyl (180° angle from O–C–nuc), in reality the angle of approach is roughly 107° (Bürgi–Dunitz angle).


 1