Question

Chlorination of 2-butanone yields two isomeric products each having the molecular formula C₄H₇ClO ldentify these two compounds

Answer 1

Chlorination of 2-butanone

Butanone reacts with chlorine to form two isomeric products 1-chlorobutan-2-one and 3-chlorobutan-2-one

These two different isomers can be achieved by the initial formation of the two possible enol forms of 2-butanone

Butanone has two different types of α-carbon atoms. So, these two carbon atoms are involved  in tautomerism to form two enol intermediates as follow

 

Enol intermediate-1 reacts with chlorine to form 1-chlorobutan-2-one

Enol intermediate-2 reacts with chlorine to form 3-chlorobutan-2-one

:The reaction is as follows