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8.12: Stereochemistry of Reactions - Addition of H₂O to an Achiral Alkene

  • Page ID
    67147
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    Objective

    After completing this section, you should be able to account for the stereochemistry of the product of the addition of water to an alkene in terms of the formation of a planar carbocation. 

    Study Notes

    Organic reactions in the laboratory or in living systems can produce chiral centres. Consider reaction of 1-butene with water (acid catalyzed). Markovnikov regiochemistry occurs and the OH adds to the second carbon. However, both R and S products occur giving a racemic (50/50) mixture of 2‑butanol. How does this occur? The proton addition to 1‑butene results in a planar carbocation intermediate. A molecule of water is then equally likely to attack from the top or the bottom of this cation to produce either (S)‑2‑butanol or (R)‑2‑butanol, respectively.

    mechanism of alkene hydration leading to racemic mixture of two-butanol

    Contributors and Attributions


    8.12: Stereochemistry of Reactions - Addition of H₂O to an Achiral Alkene is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.