Oxymercuration reaction
The
oxymercuration reaction is a
chemical reaction used in
organic chemistry to form a neutral alcohol without any rearrangement of carbocations. In this reaction, similar to some other
organic reactions, the
Hg2+ ion works to stabilize the molecule to prevent carbocation formation and so prevents rearrangement. The reaction results in a product that follows
Markovnikov's rule.
The general equation for the reaction is as follows:
- C=C in H2O / THF with Hg(OAc)2, and then with NaBH4, --> HO-C-C-H