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Organic Chem- Alcohols Q

How do i go about drwaing the displayed formula of 2-methylbutan-2-ol ?

More than seeing the displayed formula itsself, i wld appreciate fi someone could explain how to know what to draw and why etc.

Thanks :smile:

+rep

Reply 1

iceman_jondoe

well its butane for a start which means four carbons. Always try to establish how many carbons there are at the start so here its four main carbons in a line. A methyl group is ch3 so there is a ch3 on the second carbon (because of the 2-methyl bit) and also an OH group on the second carbon (because of the 2-ol bit). so the molecular formula is ch3c(Ch3)(OH)ch2ch3 but you should be able to get where im coming from..i hope :smile:

Reply 2

Doji

this is the dp if it helps....

Reply 3

Doji

well i understand the butan-2-ol bit...there is a dodgy butanol... and instead of 1 H, it has CH3 ...soo umm :confused:

Reply 4

RyanY

Yes the 2-methylbutan-2-ol contains 5 carbon atoms, if one was to draw the non branched alcohol it would be pentan- 2-ol not butan-2-ol, since we are removing the branching. The 'H' on carbon 2 on pentan-2-ol has simply been 'swapped' with a Ch3 group say at the end of the chain, forming the 2-methyl-butan-2-ol.