The acidic cleavage of an ether bond under Friedel-Crafts conditions involves the following steps:1. Protonation of the ether: The reaction begins with the protonation of the ether oxygen by a strong acid, such as HCl, HBr, or HI. This step generates an oxonium ion a positively charged oxygen atom , which makes the ether more susceptible to nucleophilic attack.R-O-R' + HX R-O H -R' + X2. Nucleophilic attack: The halide ion X from the acid acts as a nucleophile and attacks the more substituted carbon atom of the ether, breaking the C-O bond. This step generates a new C-X bond and an alcohol as the leaving group.R-O H -R' + X R-X + R'-OH3. Deprotonation of the alcohol optional : If the reaction is carried out under strongly acidic conditions, the alcohol formed in the previous step may undergo deprotonation to form a neutral product.R'-OH + HX R'-O + HO + XIn summary, the acidic cleavage of an ether bond under Friedel-Crafts conditions involves protonation of the ether, nucleophilic attack by a halide ion, and optional deprotonation of the alcohol. The final products are a halide and an alcohol or its conjugate base .