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Q.Identify the product(s) formed when 1-methoxypropane is heated with excess HI. Name the mechanism involved in the reaction.

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✓ Free question

Step 1. 1-Methoxypropane, CH3-O-CH2-CH2-CH3, has a methyl group and an n-propyl group on either side of the ether oxygen.

Step 2. With HI, the ether oxygen is first protonated; iodide then attacks the LESS sterically hindered of the two carbons -- the methyl carbon -- by SN2, cleaving the ether to give iodomethane (CH3I) and propan-1-ol.

Step 3. Since EXCESS HI is used, the propan-1-ol formed in the first step reacts FURTHER with the remaining HI (a standard alcohol-to-alkyl-halide substitution) to give 1-iodopropane (CH3CH2CH2I) and water.

Step 4. Both steps -- the initial ether cleavage and the subsequent alcohol-to-iodide conversion -- proceed by the SN2 mechanism, since every carbon involved is primary throughout.

✓Final answer

iodomethane (CH3I) + 1-iodopropane (CH3CH2CH2I); mechanism = SN2 at both stages

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