Learning Objective: To determine the factors responsible for the stability of a leaving group. These factors decide whether the leaving group is good or bad.
Prerequisite:
Chapter: Fundamentals of Organic Reactions
Sub-topic: Leaving Groups
Author's Note: Most organic chemistry reactions are displacement or elimination reactions frequently encountering a leaving group. Just like all humans aren't created equal, the nature of leaving a group to depart from a molecule and be called good or bad depends on several stabilization factors. The more factors favor the stabilization of a leaving group post-covalent bond breakage, the happier the leaving group will depart. We cover those factors here.
Factors determining stability of the leaving groups - Electronegativity, Size, and Resonance
 
The factors that determine the leaving group stability are- Electronegativity, Size, and Resonance.
a) Electronegativity
Electronegativity dictates an atom’s ability to pull the bond electrons to itself. If an atom’s position on an electronegativity scale (between 1-4) leans towards the highest number, then such an atom would have the highest tendency to tug the covalent bonds’ electrons towards itself.
Such an electronegative atom (or a group of such atoms) would also be a.....

