In the hydrolysis of a single isomer of an optically active halogenoalkane

CHEMISTRY · Multi-part · IB Diploma Programme · Chemistry · Electron-pair sharing reactions · Electron-pair sharing reactions

Problem

In the hydrolysis of a single isomer of an optically active halogenoalkane, the optical purity of the product will depend on whether the reaction happens by the SN1\text{S}_{\text{N}}1 or SN2\text{S}_{\text{N}}2 mechanism. (1) Explain why the SN2\text{S}_{\text{N}}2 mechanism produces an optically pure product. (2) Explain why the SN1\text{S}_{\text{N}}1 mechanism produces a racemic mixture.

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