andruejaysin
05-30-2005, 05:23 AM
I know this is probably the wrong site to ask this, but can anyone explain how the birch works, at a chemical level? OK, HO gets stripped off to form a molecule of (I guess) Lioh, but what adds on the carbon next to the ring (has a name, I'm sure!) I'd love to post this on a more technical board, but they lock the thread. And it matters, about a million of my friends are doing time over this, but it assumes hydogen adds on that carbon, and where does it come from? I just don't see where a H atom is floating around in this reaction.