When an unsymmetrical alkene undergoes electrophilic addition you often get a major and minor product. What would the major product be when propene reacts with hydrochloric acid? Why is this?

The major product would be 2-chloropropane whilst the minor product would be 1-chloropropane. This is because the more stable secondary carbonation is formed as an intermediate. This is easy to show with a mechanism. The secondary carbocation is stabilised by the two neighbouring carbons pushing electron density towards it. This is known as the inductive effect .

JB

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

Explain what happens to a crystal of iodine when it is heated (5marks)


How does increasing the temperature affect the yield of products of a reaction at equilibrium, where the forward reaction is exothermic?


What are isotopes?


What are 3 characteristics of Benzene that go against the proposed Kekule model?