Chemistry's dirty little secret exposed

No, this is not about Bohr's illegitamite monkey baby. This post is about a shocking process that occurs in organic chem labs around the world. As you may or may not know, organic synthesis involves the production of large molecules from smaller molecules via reactions that transfer and add substituents. One of these reactions that we are learning about right now is the SN2 reaction. Most chem students probably don't realize this because they are actually paying attention, but consider the following: SN2 reactions involve a "neucleophilic attack" by a neucleophile that is so "attracted" to an electrophile that it comes in from behind and "bonds" with it, forcing the electrophile to lose a substituent i.e. I-. What does the word neucleophile remind you of? Need I say it involves Dateline and a hidden camera? And this unsuspecting electrophile is just bonded to without giving any prior consent. This whole process is so traumatizing that it loses "I" or what I like to call its innocence. So now you know. Will you ever look at at a SN2 reaction the same way again? I certainly haven't. I wonder what consumers would think when they find the following on the back of their allergy medication: Numerous molecules were chemically raped in the process of making this compound.