The Williamson ether synthesis is a classic organic reaction that involves the formation of an ether from an alkyl halide and an alcohol in the presence of a strong base. The overall reaction can be represented as:R-OH + R'-X R-O-R' + HXWhere R and R' are alkyl or aryl groups, X is a halide usually Cl, Br, or I , and HX is the corresponding hydrogen halide.The mechanism of the Williamson ether synthesis occurs in two main steps:1. Formation of alkoxide ion nucleophile :The first step involves the deprotonation of the alcohol R-OH by a strong base usually an alkoxide ion, R''O-, or a metal hydride, such as NaH . This step generates an alkoxide ion R-O- and the conjugate acid of the base R''OH or H2 in the case of NaH .R-OH + R''O- R-O- + R''OH2. Nucleophilic substitution:The second step is a nucleophilic substitution reaction usually an SN2 reaction in which the alkoxide ion R-O- acts as a nucleophile and attacks the electrophilic carbon of the alkyl halide R'-X . This leads to the formation of the ether product R-O-R' and the halide ion X- .R-O- + R'-X R-O-R' + X-In summary, the Williamson ether synthesis involves the formation of an alkoxide ion by the deprotonation of an alcohol using a strong base, followed by a nucleophilic substitution reaction with an alkyl halide to form the ether product. The roles of the reagents are as follows:- Alcohol R-OH : Acts as the starting material for the formation of the ether product.- Strong base R''O- or NaH : Deprotonates the alcohol to form the alkoxide ion.- Alkyl halide R'-X : Acts as the electrophile in the nucleophilic substitution reaction.- Alkoxide ion R-O- : Acts as the nucleophile in the nucleophilic substitution reaction.