ULFAT
Last Activity: 8 Years ago
Steric effects are the effects seen in molecules that come from the fact that atoms occupy space. When atoms are put close to each other, this costs energy. The electrons near the atoms want to stay away from each other.Although steric hindrance is sometimes a problem (it prevents SN2 reactions with tertiary substrates from taking place), it can also be a very useful tool, and is often exploited by chemists to change the reactivity pattern of a molecule by stopping unwanted side-reactions (steric protection)