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What is the mechanism of nucleophilic addition reaction of methanol with propanal, and what is the product obtained?

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ago by (139k points)
The nucleophilic addition reaction of methanol with propanal involves the following steps:1. Protonation of the carbonyl oxygen: Methanol  CH3OH  acts as a weak acid and donates a proton  H+  to the carbonyl oxygen of propanal  CH3CH2CHO . This increases the electrophilicity of the carbonyl carbon, making it more susceptible to nucleophilic attack.2. Nucleophilic attack: The oxygen atom in methanol, which has a lone pair of electrons, acts as a nucleophile and attacks the electrophilic carbonyl carbon of protonated propanal. This results in the formation of an intermediate tetrahedral species.3. Deprotonation: The intermediate tetrahedral species loses a proton  H+  to a nearby methanol molecule, which acts as a base. This step generates the final product and regenerates the methanol molecule.The product obtained from the nucleophilic addition reaction of methanol with propanal is 1-methoxypropan-2-ol  CH3CH OCH3 CH2OH . This compound is also known as a hemiacetal, which is formed by the addition of an alcohol to an aldehyde.
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