https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.I03021
In strict definition, an experimentally observable effect (on rates of reaction, etc.) of the
transmission
of charge through a chain of atoms by electrostatic induction. A theoretical distinction may be made between the field effect
, and the inductive effect as models for the coulomb
interaction between a given site within a molecular entity
and a remote unipole or dipole within the same entity. The experimental distinction between the two effects has proved difficult, except for molecules of peculiar geometry, which may exhibit 'reversed field effects'. Ordinarily the inductive effect and the field effect
are influenced in the same direction by structural changes in the molecule and the distinction between them is not clear. This situation has led many authors to include the field effect
in the term 'inductive effect'. Thus the separation of values into inductive and resonance
components does not imply the exclusive operation of a through-bonds route for the transmission
of the non-conjugative part of the substituent effect. To indicate the all-inclusive use of the term inductive, the phrase 'so-called inductive effect' is sometimes used. Certain modern theoretical approaches suggest that the 'so-called inductive effect' reflects a field effect
rather than through-bonds transmission
.See also:
mesomeric effect
, polar effect