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The oxymercuration reaction is a chemical reaction used in organic chemistry to form a neutral alcohol without any rearrangement of carbocations. In this reaction, similar to some other organic reactions, the Hg ion works to stabilize the molecule to prevent carbocation formation and so prevents rearrangement. The reaction results in a product that follows Markovnikov's rule.

The general equation for the reaction is as follows:

C=C in H₂O / THF with Hg(OAc)₂, and then with NaBH₄, → HO-C-C-H

Strictly speaking, only the first step is oxymercuration, but in practice this is nearly always followed by demercuration with NaBH₄ (the second step).

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