Assertion : Rate of hydrolysis of methyl chloride to methanol is higher in DMF than in water. Reason : Hydrolysis of methyl chloride follows second order kinetics.

Step-by-step solution

Hydrolysis of methyl chloride to methanol follows S _ N 2 reaction. The rates of many S _ N 2 reactions are affected by the solvent. Protic solvents - those that contain - OH or - NH group are generally the worst solvents for S _ N . Polar protic solvents, (like water, alcohols and carboxylic acids), which have strong dipoles but don't have - OH or - NH groups are the best. In contrast to protic solvents, which decrease the rates of S _ N 2 reactants by lowering the ground state energy of nucleophile, polar aprotic