Question:
Give structures of the products you would expect when each of the following alcohol reacts with (a) HCl-ZnCl2 (b) HBr and (c) SOCl2.
(i) Butan-1-ol
(ii) 2-Methylbutan-2-ol
Solution:
(a)
(i)
Primary alcohols do not react appreciably with Lucas’ reagent (HCl-ZnCl2) at room temperature.
(ii)
Tertiary alcohols react immediately with Lucas’ reagent.
(b)
(i)
(ii)
(c)
(i)
(ii)