Haloalkanes and Haloarenes Part 1

Reaction of alkyl halide with ammonia is called ammonolysis reaction.
C6H5CH2Cl

NH3

⟶

C6H5CH2NH2
Carbon-halogen bond in alkyl or benzyl halides can be easily cleaved by a nucleophile. Hence, an alkyl or benzyl halide on reaction with an ethanolic solution of ammonia undergoes nucleophilic substitution reaction in which the halogen atom is replaced by an amino (−NH2) group.
This process of cleavage of the C−X bond by ammonia molecule is known as ammonolysis.