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Schwartz reagent adds syn across the terminal alkene, placing zirconium at its terminal carbon and hydrogen at the substituted carbon. The organozirconium intermediate is $\mathrm{PhCH}(\mathrm{OMe})\mathrm{CH}(\mathrm{Me})\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{ZrC}{\mathrm{p}}_2\mathrm{Cl}$. The two faces of the achiral starting alkene give enantiomeric organometallic intermediates.

Boron trifluoride coordinates the ether oxygen, making the benzylic C–OMe bond susceptible to cleavage. The C–Zr bond then transfers its carbon terminus intramolecularly to the benzylic carbon as the activated methoxy group departs, closing a cyclopropane. This can be represented as a concerted, strongly assisted displacement rather than requiring a freely equilibrating long-lived benzylic carbocation. hydrozirconation fixes the relative disposition of the new C–H and C–Zr bonds, and the preferred closure conformation places the bulky phenyl and methyl groups on opposite faces. The result is racemic trans-1-methyl-2-phenylcyclopropane, with much less steric crowding than the cis alternative. The ring contains the original two alkene carbons and the original benzylic carbon; no carbene carbon is added.

This is an acid-catalysed alpha-ketol rearrangement. Label the original ketone carbon $C_A$ and the adjacent tertiary alcohol carbon $C_B$. Protonate the oxygen on $C_A$ to activate that carbonyl. The appropriately aligned cage C–C sigma bond attached to $C_B$ migrates onto $C_A$, while the hydroxyl oxygen at $C_B$ supplies its lone pair to form the new $C_B=O$ bond. At the same time the old $C_A=O$ pi bond moves onto oxygen, which becomes the new $C_A$–OH. deprotonation regenerates the acid.

The migration reroutes the bridge rather than removing water: the original alcohol carbon becomes the ketone, and the original ketone carbon becomes the tertiary alcohol. A productive conformation aligns the migrating sigma orbital with the accepting carbonyl pi-star orbital; the oxygen lone pair simultaneously overlaps the developing p orbital at the donor carbon. The cage's geometry controls which adjacent sigma bond has the necessary alignment and which less strained skeletal isomer results. A freely rotating isolated carbocation or a simple proton shift cannot account for the changed cage connectivity.

A carbocation whose positively charged carbon is bonded to two carbon substituents.

A limiting unimolecular nucleophilic substitution mechanism with rate-determining ionization, commonly producing a carbocation, followed by nucleophile capture. Its ideal rate law is first order in substrate.

A carbocation whose positively charged carbon is bonded to three carbon substituents.