Question

Draw a stepwise mechanism for the following hydrolysis.

Short answer

Answer

Step-by-step solution

Reaction mechanism

Reaction mechanism constitutes a sequential procedure that details the transformation of reactants into products. Numerous kinds of reactions are present in organic chemistry, and one among them is the hydrolysis reaction.

Hydrolysis of carbohydrates

Monosaccharides are created by the acid hydrolysis of carbohydrates like disaccharides and polysaccharides.

In the hydrolysis procedure of carbohydrates, the long molecules (polymers) are reduced into smaller units (monomers).

Stepwise mechanism for the given hydrolysis

The first step involves the oxygen protonation of the glycosidic linkage. The protonated oxygen gets subjected to the cleavage of the glycosidic linkage forming an acetal. This acetal undergoes protonation, and the methanol molecule gets eliminated.

This forms a carbocation. The water molecule strikes the carbocation. This is followed by the deprotonation to form a glucose molecule.

The mechanism can be given as:

The stepwise mechanism for the hydrolysis reaction