There are two types of rearrangements: the first that involves the one-step migration of a hydrogen atom or of a group of atoms within a relatively short-lived intermediate. The second one may be a multistep reaction, including the migration of a hydrogen atom or of a larger molecule fragment in one of its steps. The properties of a molecule are determined by the sequence in which its atoms are attached to one another. Any reaction that shifts the position of a carbon (or other) atom and its substituents within a molecule effects an isomerization that alters the physical and chemical properties of the compound. In this section, we examine the reactions in which a carbon–carbon bond is broken in one part of a molecule and reformed at another place.
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