Provide the reaction conditions for:

Question

Provide the reaction conditions for

(a) acid-catalyzed dehydration of alcohols (industrial preparation)

(b) Williamson ether synthesis

(c) alkyoxymercuration-demercuration(analogous to oxymercuration-demercuration).

Answer 1

Hello Heyam,

For part (a), acid-catalyzed dehydration requires only the presence of acid; sulfuric acid is typically used.

The Williamson ether synthesis is a two-step synthesis, the reaction conditions for which are...

1) strong base (NaH or NaOH)

2) an alkyl halide RX where R is the desired alkyl group to be added to form the ether

The reagents used to perform alkoxymercuration-demercuration are as follows...

1) Hg(OAc)₂, ROH where R is the desired alkyl group to be added to form the ether

2) NaBH₄

Good luck with your studies!