What is the outcome when tert-butyl bromide reacts with water under heat?

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What is the outcome when tert-butyl bromide reacts with water under heat?

When a tertiary alkyl bromide is heated in water, the bond to the bromide can break to form a stable tertiary carbocation. This unimolecular ionization step is the rate-determining part of the process. Water then acts as the nucleophile, attacking the carbocation to form the oxonium intermediate, which is deprotonated by water to yield tert-butanol. The reasons this pathway wins are that a tertiary carbocation is highly stabilized, so SN1 is favored over SN2 (which would be hindered by the bulky tert-butyl group), and water is a weak base, so elimination via E2 is not competitive under these conditions. The major product is tert-butanol.

When a tertiary alkyl bromide is heated in water, the bond to the bromide can break to form a stable tertiary carbocation. This unimolecular ionization step is the rate-determining part of the process. Water then acts as the nucleophile, attacking the carbocation to form the oxonium intermediate, which is deprotonated by water to yield tert-butanol. The reasons this pathway wins are that a tertiary carbocation is highly stabilized, so SN1 is favored over SN2 (which would be hindered by the bulky tert-butyl group), and water is a weak base, so elimination via E2 is not competitive under these conditions. The major product is tert-butanol.

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