1. 1I have followed van Fraassen's treatment of explanations as answers to why questions. I have done this only because it offers a convenient way of focusing my project, not because I wish to endorse van Fraassen's Pragmatic Theory of Explanation. See van Fraassen, B. 1980. The Scientific Image. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
2. 2When the question is about a class of transformations that has some feature in common, the facts relevant to the question will be facts true of this class of transformations. All of the questions being considered are about reactions of a certain type, thus, in general, answers to those questions would be facts about transformations of a certain type.
3. A correlation of reaction rates;Hammond;J. Am. Chem. Soc.,1955
4. 4Vollhardt, K. & N. Schore. 1995. Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed., p. 187. W. H. Freeman. New York.
5. 5Lowry, T. & K. Richardson. 1987. Mechanism and Theory in Organic Chemistry, 3rd ed., p. 374. Harper & Row. New York.