Account for the following: t-butyl chloride reacts with aqueous KOH by S_(N)1 mechanism while n-butyl chloride reacts with S_(N^(2)) mechanism.

Account for the following: t-butyl chloride reacts with aqueous KOH by

1.	Account for the following: t-butyl chloride reacts with aqueous KOH by S_(N)1 mechanism while n-butyl chloride reacts with S_(N^(2)) mechanism.
Answer» Solution :This is because rate of `S_(N(2))` REACTION is directly proportional to delta INVERSELY proportional to steric crowding. Ter-buty & chloride has vast steric crowding. Ter-buty & chloride has vast steric crowding and THUS it is more stable. For `S_(N^(1))` reaction rather then `S_(N^(2))` reaction.