Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry

S_NAr mechanism: An aromatic substitution mechanism featuring nucleophilic addition to an aromatic ring (which destroys the ring's aromaticity), followed by an elimination step (which restores the lost aromaticity).

This S_NAr reaction begins with nucleophilic addition of methoxide ion (^-OCH₃; a nucleophile) to the benzene ring (the addition step), followed by elimination of fluoride ion (a leaving group) to give the final product.