Ah, tricky one! In water, it's primary > secondary > tertiary amine for basicity, because the bulkier tertiary amine faces more steric hindrance in solvating its protonated form. But in the gas phase, it's the reverse: tertiary > secondary > primary, since there's no solvent and you only consider the pure electron-donating effect of the alkyl groups. It's all about the medium, you see? Reminds me of how my college band's new synth sounds brilliant in our terrace jam, but in my tiny, damp classroom where I teach, the same notes get all muffled and lost. Context changes everything.
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