Final answer:
Oxymercuration-demercuration is a chemical reaction used to convert alkenes into neutral alcohols with Markovnikov regioselectivity and anti-stereochemistry, without the rearrangement of the carbon skeleton.
Step-by-step explanation:
The primary use of oxymercuration-demercuration is a two-step organic chemical reaction that transforms alkenes into neutral alcohols. The process involves the addition of mercury acetate in the first step, followed by reduction in the second step to replace the mercury with a hydrogen atom. This method is particularly useful because it does not result in the rearrangement of the carbon skeleton, leading to the formation of Markovnikov-type products in a regioselective manner. For example, treating an alkene with aqueous mercury (II) acetate followed by sodium borohydride or sodium amalgam in water gives the corresponding alcohol. The hydroxylation of the alkene occurs with anti-stereochemistry, meaning that the hydrogen and hydroxyl group will add to opposite sides of the plane of the double bond.