alcohols

Question 1

boiling point

Answer 1

• form hydrogen bonds with each other
• relatively high bp compared with non-polar molecules with similar molecular mass

Question 2

solubility

Answer 2

• alcohols dissolve well in polar solvents such as water
• can form hydrogen bonds well in water
• as carbon chain length increases, water solubility decreases as london forces become the main intermolecular bonding type

Question 3

oxidisation of primary alcohols

Answer 3

• reflux to carboxylic acid
• distill to aldehyde
  ( primary alcohol - H bonds)
  (aldehyde - dipoledipole)
  (carboxylic acid - H bonds)

Question 4

oxidisation of secondary alcohols

Answer 4

oxidise to ketones regardless of conditions

Question 5

tertiary alcohols

Answer 5

cannot be oxidised

Question 6

[O] (oxidising agent)

Answer 6

• usually acidified dichromate ions (Cr2O7 -2)
• most common is acidified pottasium dichromate (H+ / K2Cr2O7)

Question 7

dehydration of alcohols

Answer 7

alcohols can be dehydrated to form alkenes, this requires an acid catalyst (either conc. sulfuric acid or conc. phosphoric acid), heated to reflux

Question 8

formation of haloalkanes

Answer 8

alcohols can be converted to haloalkanes using a sodium halide and sulphuric acid