The Wurtz reaction, named after Charles-Adolphe Wurtz, is a coupling reaction in organic chemistry, organometallic chemistry and recently inorganic main group polymers, whereby two alkyl halides are reacted with sodium to form a new alkane:
2R–X + 2Na → R–R + 2Na+X−
Other metals have also been used to effect the Wurtz coupling, among them silver, zinc, iron, activated[further explanation needed] copper, indium and a mixture of manganese and copper chloride.[1] The related reaction dealing with aryl halides is called the Wurtz-Fittig reaction.This can be explained by the formation of free radical intermediate and its subsequent disproportionation to give alkene.