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JEE Advanced 2025 Paper 1 · Chemistry · Hydrocarbons · medium

Free-radical monobromination of 2-methylbutane with Br2 and light at 127^circC is highly selective. The relative rates of abstraction per hydrogen…

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Free-radical monobromination of 2-methylbutane with Br2\mathrm{Br_2} and light at 127∘C127^\circ\mathrm{C} is highly selective. The relative rates of abstraction per hydrogen atom are primary : secondary : tertiary =1:82:1640=1:82:1640. Calculate the percentage of 2-bromo-2-methylbutane in the mixture of monobromo products (counting stereoisomers together). Give the answer correct to two decimal places.
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Answer: 90.46

Count the hydrogens in CH3 ⁣− ⁣CH(CH3) ⁣− ⁣CH2 ⁣− ⁣CH3\mathrm{CH_3\!-\!CH(CH_3)\!-\!CH_2\!-\!CH_3}: primary =3+3+3=9=3+3+3=9 (two methyls on C2 and the terminal methyl); secondary =2=2 (the CH2\mathrm{CH_2}); tertiary =1=1. Weighted reactivities: primary 9×1=99\times1=9, secondary 2×82=1642\times82=164, tertiary 1×1640=16401\times1640=1640. Total =9+164+1640=1813=9+164+1640=1813. The tertiary bromide, 2-bromo-2-methylbutane, is formed to the extent 1640/1813=0.90461640/1813=0.9046, i.e. 90.46%90.46\%. For reference, the secondary products (2-bromo-3-methylbutane and its enantiomer) make up 9.05%9.05\% and the primary bromides 0.50%0.50\%, which sum to 100%100\% with the main product. Note that the ratio depends on both the reactivity per hydrogen and the number of each kind of hydrogen, which is why the lone tertiary hydrogen still dominates the product distribution.
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