Question
When 3-methylbutan-2-ol is heated with HBr, the following reaction takes place:

Give a mechanism for this reaction.
Solution
The given reaction involve the following mechanism,
Step 1: Protonation to 3-methylbutan-2-ol
Step 2: Formation of secondary carbocation by the elimination of a water molecule.
Step 3 : Rearrangement by the hydride-ion shift
Step 4: Nucleophilic attack