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This product distribution can be rationalized by assuming that loss of the hydroxy group in 1 gives the tertiary carbocation A, which rearranges to the seemingly less stable secondary carbocation B. Chlorine can approach this center from two faces leading to the observed mixture of isomers.
Tertiary carbons are similarly preferred in E1 for the same reasons as it has a carbocation intermediate. E1 and E2 reactions follow Zaitsev's rule which states that the most substituted product in an elimination reactions is going to be the major product because it will be favored for its stability.
The stabilities of the carbocations formed by this dissociation are known to follow the trend tertiary > secondary > primary > methyl. Therefore, since the tertiary carbocation is relatively stable and therefore close in energy to the R-X reactant, then the tertiary transition state will have a structure that is fairly similar to the R-X reactant.
The reaction involves a carbocation intermediate and is commonly seen in reactions of secondary or tertiary alkyl halides under strongly basic conditions or, under strongly acidic conditions, with secondary or tertiary alcohols. With primary and secondary alkyl halides, the alternative S N 2 reaction occurs.
In this case, tertiary carbocation will react faster than a secondary which will react much faster than a primary. It is also due to this carbocation intermediate that the product does not have to have inversion. The nucleophile can attack from the top or the bottom and therefore create a racemic product.
This is due to the abstraction of a hydrogen atom by the alkene from the hydrogen halide (HX) to form the most stable carbocation (relative stability: 3°>2°>1°>methyl), as well as generating a halogen anion. A simple example of a hydrochlorination is that of indene with hydrogen chloride gas (no solvent): [4]
For instance a tertiary carbocation is more stable than a secondary carbocation and therefore the S N 1 reaction of neopentyl bromide with ethanol yields tert-pentyl ethyl ether. Carbocation rearrangements are more common than the carbanion or radical counterparts. This observation can be explained on the basis of Hückel's rule.
In cyclic systems, the reaction presents more features of interest. In these reactions, the stereochemistry of the diol plays a crucial role in deciding the major product. An alkyl group which is situated trans- to the leaving –OH group may migrate to the carbocation center, but cis- alkyl groups migrate at a very low rate.