Alcohols react with active metals,e.g.,$Na, K$ etc. to give corresponding alkoxides. Write down the decreasing order of reactivity of sodium metal with primary,secondary and tertiary alcohols.

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(N/A) The order of reactivity of alcohols with sodium metal is:
Primary alcohol $>$ Secondary alcohol $>$ Tertiary alcohol
The $+I$ effect of the alkyl groups increases the electron density on the oxygen atom. As a result,the electropositive hydrogen of the $-OH$ group is more tightly held by the molecule,which makes the release of $H^{+}$ difficult.
The effect is more pronounced if there are more alkyl groups in the molecule. Thus,tertiary alcohol is the least acidic and shows the least reactivity towards sodium metal.

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