Introduction: The SN1 reaction is a substitution, nucleophilic, unimolecular reaction involving a two-step mechanism. The first step being the formation of a carbocation from the loss of a leaving group, the second being a rapid attack on the carbocation by the nucleophile. The term unimolecular can be used to describe this type of reaction since there is only one organic substance involved in the rate determining step. (3) Since the rate of the reaction is not dependent upon the nucleophile concentration, the rate determining step for this process would be the loss of the leaving group resulting in the formation of a carbocation. The stability of this carbocation will also influence the rate at which the reaction will occur. The more stable …show more content…
This can be concluded since the tert-amyl chloride is considered bulky and also forms a tertiary carbocation with the loss of a leaving group. The chloride from the tert-amyl chloride served as the leaving group which then resulted in a tertiary carbocation. With this carbocation being the most stable form possible, the oxygen rapidly attacks the electrophile forming a new bond between the carbocation and the oxygen. The hydrogen from this hydroxide however forms a bond with the remaining chlorine producing HCl. The 60/40 mixture of acetone and water produced 2.08x10-3moles HCL in comparison to the control 60/40 mixture which produced 2.0x10-3 moles HCl. The 50/50 mixture produced 3.81x10-3moles HCl the control 50/50 mix produced 3.44x10-3 moles of HCl. While the concentration of acetone in each mixture varies, the end product is the same. In this case, the difference in acetone levels should not have an effect on the amount of product formed theoretically. As shown from the results however, the 50/50 mixture produced higher levels of HCl in comparison to the 60/40 mixture. Since the mechanism for SN1 reactions has proven to be true these results show that errors occurred during the duration of this experiment. Such errors would include atmospheric exposure as well as contamination of the equipment from the previous