What do carbocations usually do?

1 Answer
Mar 30, 2017

You will get rearrangement. In other words, not the product you were looking for.

Explanation:

This is, as chemists would say, a bad thing.

In either an #SN_1# or an #E_1# reaction, if you are starting out with a leaving group on a tertiary carbon, you are going to be fine. Tertiary carbocations are the most stable. You will get your expected product.

However, if your leaving group is on a primary or secondary cargon, you are going to get a mixture of products:

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This mixture of products is the signature of the generation of a carbocation.