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What is the mechanism and product of the substitution reaction between 2-bromo-2-methylpropane and sodium hydroxide in ethanol?

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The reaction between 2-bromo-2-methylpropane  tert-butyl bromide  and sodium hydroxide  NaOH  in ethanol is a nucleophilic substitution reaction. Since 2-bromo-2-methylpropane is a tertiary alkyl halide, the reaction follows an SN1  Substitution Nucleophilic Unimolecular  mechanism.Here's a step-by-step description of the mechanism:1. Ionization: The bond between the carbon and bromine in 2-bromo-2-methylpropane breaks, resulting in the formation of a tertiary carbocation  tert-butyl cation  and a bromide ion  Br- . This step is the slow, rate-determining step of the reaction.2. Nucleophilic attack: The hydroxide ion  OH-  from sodium hydroxide acts as a nucleophile and attacks the positively charged carbon in the tert-butyl cation. This step is relatively fast.3. Formation of the product: The nucleophilic attack results in the formation of 2-methyl-2-propanol  tert-butyl alcohol  as the major product.Overall, the reaction can be summarized as: CH3 3C-Br + NaOH   CH3 3C-OH + NaBrThe product of the substitution reaction between 2-bromo-2-methylpropane and sodium hydroxide in ethanol is 2-methyl-2-propanol  tert-butyl alcohol .
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