[please5]

a-pinene oxide is reacted with sulfric acid to create a molecule with m/z of 170. The reaction is occurs by adding hexane and then later washing the solid with water but i think that the hexane is simply used as a solvent and that the solid is simply washed with water. can someone help me figure out the product? i know that because of ring strain a carbocation shift occurs or a structure similar to limonene is created but i cannot figure out how a molecule with a mass of 170 is created since a-pinene oxide has a mass of 152 and this reaction is all about carbocation shifts.

[Honclbrif]

You're on the right track, but since there was a mass shift, you need to determine what caused it.

Think about the reactivity of carbocations: they can rearrange, but they can react in other ways as well.

What's the difference between 170 and 152? What ubiquitous molecule has the same mass?

[please5]

damm... i cant figure out where the extra mass of 18 is coming from. i find it improbable that 18 more hydrogens are attached or that hexane (which i assume is simply the solvent) is somehow involved since its mass is 72. And since only one product is created (i think), i dont think that a-pinene oxide reacts with itself.

[Honclbrif]

Even concentrated sulfuric acid isn't pure H₂SO₄. There's at least one other molecule in there. What's its mass? Is it capable of adding to a carbocation?

[nox]

^Arguably it's the most abundant molecule on Earth.