Experiment No.

03

Properties of Alcohol

INTRODUCTION

Alcohol is a homologous series in which the compounds contain a functional group

called the hydroxyl group (-OH). The general molecular formula for alcohols is CnH2n+1OH.
Alcohols are all derivatives of hydrocarbons in which one or more of the hydrogen atoms in the
hydrocarbon have been replaced by a hydroxyl group. The hydroxyl group is also responsible for
imparting certain chemical and/or physical properties to the compound. The names of the alcohol
are derived according to the alkane backbone. If the hydroxyl (-OH) group is attached to a
methane backbone, the compound is called methanol or methyl alcohol. If the backbone is
butane, the alcohol formed is butanol. So basically, to derive the name of an alcohol, take the
name of the hydrocarbon backbone, remove the alphabet "E" from its name and replace it with
"ol".Alcohols are classified into different groups depending on where the hydroxyl group is
placed in the molecule: primary, secondary and tertiary alcohol.
(https://sites.google.com/site/chemistryolp/what-are-alcohols)

The purpose of the experiments is to determine the reaction of the alcohol samples in
Potassium dichromate test and Lucas test in order to know the types of alcohol are the given
samples belong.

DATA AND RESULT

The results on the data are all based from the experiment.

REACTION
Alcohol Sample Potassium Lucas Test Types of Alcohol
Dichromate Test
Isopropyl Alcohol Green Cloudy or Turbid Secondary
Denature Alcohol Apple Green Clear image Primary
Ethyl Alcohol Yellow Green Clear image Primary

After the experimenters acidified the potassium dichromate it mixed with alcohol
samples to get the results in a given test while in the Lucas test they identify whether the solution
tends so separate into two layers or not; does the solution look turbid or clear.

When a carbon atom loses a bond to hydrogen and gains a bond to another carbon atom it
is considered to be an oxidative process because hydrogen, of all the elements, is the least
electronegative.

2
Thus, in the process of dehydrogenation the carbon atom undergoes an overall loss of electron
density - and loss of electrons is oxidation. Conversely, when a carbon atom in an organic
compound gains a bond to hydrogen and loses a bond to a heteroatom (or to another carbon
atom), we say that the compound has been hydrogenated, or reduced. The hydrogenation of a
ketone to an alcohol, for example, is overall the reverse of the alcohol dehydrogenation. ( Organic
Chemistry With a Biological Emphasis by Tim Soderberg (University of Minnesota, Morris)

The excess of the alcohol means that there isn't enough oxidising agent present to carry
out the second stage. Removing the aldehyde as soon as it is formed means that it doesn't hang
around waiting to be oxidised anyway! If you used ethanol as a typical primary alcohol, you
would produce the aldehyde ethanal, CH3CHO. The full equation for this reaction is fairly
complicated, and you need to understand about electron-half-equations in order to work it out.
(http://www.chemguide.co.uk/organicprops/alcohols/oxidation.html)

The alcohol is heated under reflux with an excess of the oxidising agent. When the reaction is
complete, the carboxylic acid is distilled off. The full equation for the oxidation of ethanol to ethanoic
acid is:

Lucas is more often used to categorize the different types of alcohols based on the time
taken to form a turbid solution or precipitation using the Lucas Reagent namely: Primary
alcohol: Here no visible reaction is observed and the solution remains colorless. Secondary
alcohol: Here the solution turns turbid or cloudy in 5-20 minutes with slight heating. Tertiary
alcohol: Here the solution turns turbid or cloudy rapidly with the formation of two separate
layers at room temperature. (http://www.chemistrylearner.com/lucas-reagent.html).

CONCLUSION

The experimenter therefore conclude that through Potassium Dichromate test and Lucas
test we can easily identify what type of alcohol do we have. And through the experiment we
already know that isopropyl is belong to secondary alcohol, denatured and ethyl are belong to
primary. No tertiary alcohol was seen in the experiment.

INSIGHTS:

As the experimenters compare their answer in the other groups they saw they have
different results in Lucas Test. But overall, they developed their skills as an observant. They
become cautious in their action and they become more attentive in every reaction that happened
in their experiment.

3.
 EXPERIMENT NO. 3

PROPERTIES OF ALCOHOL

MARASIGAN, JANE ARA S.

BSED-2
4.3

MAAM LEAH BALBADA

ORG CHEM PROF.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: FEBRUARY 19, 2016