Alcohols & Haloalkanes

Question 1

What’s an Alcohol?

Answer 1

Saturated Homologous series with functional group OH
• boiling points increase with chain length
• solubility decrease with chain length
• volatility decreases with chain length

Question 2

What is the oxidising agent used for alcohols what colour changes would you observe?

Answer 2

Acidified Potassium dichromate (K2CR2O7)

from orange to green, when oxidised

Question 3

What happens when you oxidise an primary alcohol?

Answer 3

Forms an Aldehyde

Question 4

What happens when you oxidise an primary alcohol under reflux?

Answer 4

Forms a Carboxylic acid

Question 5

What happens when you oxidise an secondary alcohol?

Answer 5

Forms a Ketone

Question 6

What are the equations for the oxidation of alcohols into: aldehydes, ketones& carboxylic acids?
(us [O] to represent oxidising agent)

Answer 6

Primary alcohol + [O] → Aldehyde
Primary alcohol + 2[O] → Carboxylic acid
Secondary alcohol + [O] → Ketone

Question 7

How do you go from an Alcohol to an Alkene?

Answer 7

Dehydration
• heat with Conc phosphoric acid(H₃PO₄) or
(sulphuric acid)

Question 8

How do you go from an Alcohol to an Haloalkane?

Answer 8

Halide Substitution
• react with hydrogen halide(HCl, HBr Hi etc.)
• halide salt + H2SO4 catalyst

Question 9

How are alcohols involved in the formation of esters?

Answer 9

Esterification
• heat with carboxylic acid in acidic conditions
*diol + dicarboxylic acid forms a polyester

Question 10

What type of reaction mechanism do Haloalkanes undergo?

Answer 10

Nucleophilic substitution

halogen replaced by another nucleophile