A chiral alkyl halide undergoes SN1 substitution, resulting in a mixture that shows partial racemization with slight inversion. What causes this deviation?
Q1. A chiral alkyl halide undergoes SN1 substitution, resulting in a mixture that shows partial racemization with slight inversion. What causes this deviation?
Answer: Ion-pair formation
Explanation: The leaving group stays close to the carbocation, blocking front-side attack and favoring inversion; solvent cage is tempting but less specific here.