Question

draw the major product formed in the following reaction of an epoxide with acidic methanol

Draw the major product formed in the following reaction of an epoxide with acidic methanol.

Answer 1

Answer 2

Concepts and reason

The concept used to solve this question is cleavage of epoxide and nucleophilic substitution in the presence of acid catalyst.

Fundamentals

Under acidic conditions, the nucleophile preferentially attacks the more substituted ring carbon.

Under basic or neutral conditions, the nucleophile preferentially attacks at the less substituted (or less sterically hindered ring carbon).

Protonation is shown as follows:

The formation of product is as follows:

Ans:

The major product is as follows:

Answer 3

Concepts and reason

The concept is to draw the major organic product of a reaction between oxirane and methanol in presence of an acid.

Fundamentals

Methanol acts as a nucleophile, and sulfuric acid acts as a catalyst.

In step-1, sulfuric acid protonates the oxirane oxygen, followed by nucleophilic attack at more substituted carbon takes place.

The reaction is,

Ans:

Thus, the major organic product is,