The Student Room Group
Okay what you've draw is tert-butanol, this doesn't undergo the sort of mechanism you've drawn (plus you need an arrow to break the C-O bond too), this would work fine for a primary alcohol such as methanol.

With t-butanol the oxygen picks up H+ with its lone pair, then this breaks away leaving C(CH3)+ (i.e. a carbocation) the Cl- then attacks this carbocation forming the choloroalkane.

The mechanism you've drawn is called SN2 but with t-butanol you have the SN1 mechanism (this is for reference)
Reply 2
EierVonSatan
Okay what you've draw is tert-butanol, this doesn't undergo the sort of mechanism you've drawn (plus you need an arrow to break the C-O bond too), this would work fine for a primary alcohol such as methanol.

With t-butanol the oxygen picks up H+ with its lone pair, then this breaks away leaving C(CH3)+ (i.e. a carbocation) the Cl- then attacks this carbocation forming the choloroalkane.

The mechanism you've drawn is called SN2 but with t-butanol you have the SN1 mechanism (this is for reference)


So... which alkanes undergo Sn1 and which undergo Sn2, and what determines this?
LearningMath
So... which alkanes undergo Sn1 and which undergo Sn2, and what determines this?


It's due to the stability of the carbocation and how easily the partially positive charged Carbon is attacked.

Carbocation stability: tertiary > secondary > primary

Likelihood of Sn2 increases this way ----->
Reply 4
EierVonSatan
It's due to the stability of the carbocation and how easily the partially positive charged Carbon is attacked.

Carbocation stability: tertiary > secondary > primary

Likelihood of Sn2 increases this way ----->


What do you mean by primary, secondary and tertiary molecules/ions?

I've just been reading

http://www.chemhelper.com/sn1.html
and
http://www.chemhelper.com/sn2.html

They also keep making mention to this...
LearningMath
What do you mean by primary, secondary and tertiary molecules/ions?

I've just been reading

http://www.chemhelper.com/sn1.html
and
http://www.chemhelper.com/sn2.html

They also keep making mention to this...


Much easier to draw than explain - examples are best I think

primary alcohol = CH3CH2OH
secondary = (CH3)2CHOH
tertiary = (CH3)3COH

so its dependant on how many hydrogens there are on the carbon connected to the halogen/hydroxy/amine etc.

0 hydrogens = tertiary
1 hydrogen = secondary
2 (or more) hydrogens = primary

edit: typos galore!

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