| tert-Butyl chloride | |
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2-chloro-2-methylpropane |
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Other names
1,1-dimethylethyl chloride |
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| Identifiers | |
| CAS number | 507-20-0 |
| PubChem | 10486 |
| ChemSpider | 10054 |
| EC-number | 208-066-4 |
| UN number | 1127 |
| ChEMBL | CHEMBL346997 |
| RTECS number | TX5040000 |
| Jmol-3D images | Image 1 |
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| Properties | |
| Molecular formula | C4H9Cl |
| Molar mass | 92.57 g/mol |
| Appearance | Colorless liquid |
| Density | 0.84 g cm−3 |
| Melting point |
−26 °C, 247 K, -15 °F |
| Boiling point |
51 °C, 324 K, 124 °F |
| Solubility in water | Sparingly sol in water, miscible with alcohol and ether |
| Vapor pressure | 34.9 kPa (20 °C) |
| Hazards | |
| EU classification | Flammable (F) |
| R-phrases | R12, R36/37/38 |
| S-phrases | S7, S9, S16, S29, S33 |
| NFPA 704 |
3
2
0
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| Flash point | −9 °C (open cup) −23 °C (closed cup) |
| Autoignition temperature |
540 °C |
| Related compounds | |
| Related alkyl halides | tert-Butyl bromide |
| (verify) (what is: /?) Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 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 water, a polar and protic solvent, the bulky chloride substituent is carried away by it, and isolated from the aliphatic chain, 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.
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.