Question

Question #76b00

Answer 1

tert-butoxide (`(CH_3)_3C-O^-`), sodium ion (`Na^+`) and elemental hydrogen (`H_2`).

Explanation:

This is the reduction reaction of a tertiary alcohol by sodium, the proposed mechanism is as depicted in the following scheme.

The products of this reaction are: tert-butoxide (`(CH_3)_3C-O^-`), sodium ion (`Na^+`) and elemental hydrogen (`H_2`).

The above scheme shows two possible mechanism for sodium to lose its valence electron to.

The `color(red)(red)` arrows show that sodium gives its valence electron to hydrogen and the hydrogen loses its electron to oxygen to form hydrogen radical and tert-butoxide.

The `color(blue)(blue)` arrows show that sodium gives its valence electron to oxygen and then there is a hemolytic cleavage of the `O-H` bond to form hydrogen radical and tert-butoxide.

Finally, two hydrogen radicals combine together to form `H_2`; the elemental hydrogen.

Note that Sodium is oxidized (from `0` to `+1`) and hydrogen is reduced (from `+1` to `0`).