tert-Butyl chloride
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| Names | |||
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| IUPAC name
2-chloro-2-methylpropane | |||
| Other names
1,1-dimethylethyl chloride 1-chloro-1,1-dimethylethane chlorotrimethylmethane trimethylchloromethane t-butyl chloride | |||
| Identifiers | |||
| 507-20-0 | |||
| ChEMBL | ChEMBL346997 | ||
| ChemSpider | 10054 | ||
| EC Number | 208-066-4 | ||
| Jmol interactive 3D | Image | ||
| PubChem | 10486 | ||
| RTECS number | TX5040000 | ||
| UN number | 1127 | ||
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| Properties | |||
| C4H9Cl | |||
| Molar mass | 92.57 g/mol | ||
| Appearance | Colorless liquid | ||
| Density | 0.851 g/mL | ||
| Melting point | −26 °C (−15 °F; 247 K) | ||
| Boiling point | 51 °C (124 °F; 324 K) | ||
| Sparingly sol in water, miscible with alcohol and ether | |||
| Vapor pressure | 34.9 kPa (20 °C) | ||
| Hazards | |||
| EU classification (DSD) |
Flammable (F) | ||
| R-phrases | R12, R36/37/38 | ||
| S-phrases | S7, S9, S16, S29, S33 | ||
| NFPA 704 | |||
| Flash point | −9 °C (16 °F; 264 K) (open cup) −23 °C (closed cup) | ||
| 540 °C (1,004 °F; 813 K) | |||
| Related compounds | |||
| Related alkyl halides |
tert-Butyl bromide | ||
| Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). | |||
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| Infobox references | |||
tert-Butyl chloride is a colorless, liquid organic compound at room temperature. It is sparingly soluble in water, with a tendency to undergo spontaneous solvolysis when dissolved into it. The compound is flammable and volatile, and its main use is as a starting molecule to carry out nucleophilic substitution reactions, to produce different substances, ranging from alcohols to alkoxide salts.
When tert-butyl chloride is dissolved in a polar and protic solvent, like water, it undergoes a solvolysis reaction. The chloride groups leaves, causing an heterolytic rupture of the compound, giving rise to a carbocation which eventually becomes a tertiary alcohol after a water molecule reacts with it, releasing hydrochloric acid as the final product. If a different, stronger nucleophilic agent is present at the moment of reaction, reaction product may not be an alcohol, but a tertiary carbon with the nucleophile as a substituent. Because of the steric hindrance of the tert-butyl group the solvolysis reaction follows the SN1 mechanism and not the SN2 mechanism.
Synthesis
tert-Butyl chloride can be synthesized in the laboratory by the SN1 reaction of tert-Butanol with concentrated hydrochloric acid, as shown below.
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The overall reaction, therefore, is:

Because tert-butanol is a tertiary alcohol, the relative stability of the tert-butyl carbocation in the Step 2 allows the SN1 mechanism to be followed, whereas a primary alcohol would follow an SN2 mechanism.
See also
External links
- Safety MSDS data
- Preparation 2-chloro-2-methylpropane
- http://www.cerlabs.com/experiments/10875407331.pdf





