Benzyne as an Intermediate in Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution Reactions

It sometimes happens in organic chemistry that a large body of related fact accumulates which seemingly cannot be rationalized on the basis of the currently available theoretical concepts. In such circumstances, substantial clarification may often be achieved by an approach which is novel only in application to the system at band. The pieces of the puzzle may then fall into place and experimental verification of predictions may be thereby achieved. However, it almost invariably occurs that the initial success is later tempered by experimental findings which either require modification of the original ideas or indicate their limitations.