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Question

Tertiary alkyl halides are practically inert to substitution by SN2 mechanism because of

A
inductive effect
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B
insolubility
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C
instability
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D
steric hindrance
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Solution

The correct option is D steric hindrance
SN2 stands for substitution nucleophilic bimolecular. In this mechanism one bond is broken and one bond is formed at the same time. The following factors affect the rate of reaction:
1) Substrate
2) Nucleophile
3) Solvent
4) Leaving group
But here, we will only look at the first factor as other three factors are not applicable.

The substrate plays an important role in the reaction as the nucleophile attacks the substrate from behind. At the same time the leaving group has to break the bond.

The hindrance caused by surrounding groups reduces the rate of the reaction. This is called steric hindrance. In tertiary alkyl halide, there are three CH3 groups attached to the central carbon, hence increasing the hindrance. Therefore, the correct answer is option (d).

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