Differences Between Organic and Introduction

Inorganic Compounds and Tests

Organic compounds are carbon-
for Elements Found in Organic
Compounds containing compounds predominantly in
companion with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and
ROBIE ANGELO S. MAGALLANES*
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry-1, Department several other elements. Organic compounds are
of Pure and Applied Chemistry, College of Arts sourced from biological matters and are part of the
and Sciences, Visayas State University, Baybay
City, Leyte, Philippines 6521-A natural process cycle of their individual lives.
ABSTRACT These compounds, however, are also important in
research, industry, medicine, and generally in the
Organic compounds are carbon-
improvement of life. Additionally, there also exists
containing compounds sourced from differing
its polar opposite group of compounds – the
biological matter; and they differ in elemental
inorganic compounds – which comprises
presence and molecular structures. Hence, the
everything that is not organic. Due to the differing
experiment aimed to identify the elements present
biological sources of organic compounds, they
in different organic compounds and to discuss
also possess differing and unique traits from each
fundamental differences in properties of organic
other. However, this fact proved to be useful
and inorganic compounds. The materials and
because, in turn, it could be used as an indicator
methodology used in this experiment were taken
of their specific presence/the presence of
from Experiment 1 of Laboratory Manual in Chem
elements in the compounds using tests/processes
125 – Organic Chemistry (Unpublished) by Acabal
that caters to their uniqueness. Moreover, the
et. al, and it includes tests for elements present in
difference in properties of Organic and Inorganic
organic compounds and tests for differences in
compounds also proved to be very useful in
properties of organic and inorganic compound.
distinguishing the two. Three important examples
Albumin, the organic compound used in the
of properties that Organic and Inorganic differ that
experiment along with Urea, was proved to contain
are tackled in this experiment are: melting point,
the sulfur element and nitrogen respectively.
conductivity, and ionization. That is why this
Additionally, organic compounds, in general, were
experiment aims to identify the elements present
shown to possess lower melting point, lower
in organic compounds and to discuss fundamental
conductivity, and little to no ionization as
differences in properties of organic and inorganic
compared to inorganic compounds.
compounds to further knowledge regarding the
organic compounds.
Materials and Methodology
The materials and methodology used in
this experiment were taken from Experiment 1 of
Laboratory Manual in Chem 125 – Organic
Chemistry (Unpublished) by Acabal et. al, as
provided by Ms. Mary Annilyn L. Villar.
Tests for Elements Present in Organic
Compound
Elements detected by combustion of organic
compounds
Set-up 1: A 100-mL beaker was filled with
cold tap water and its flat bottom was then
exposed 1 inch above from the non-luminous
flame produced by a Tirrill burner.
Set-up 2: A glass tube was dipped into a test
tube containing 3mL limewater and the said glass
tubing, with adhered drop of limewater at its tip,
was exposed 1 inch above the flame.
Set-up 3: Another glass tube with adhered
drop of limewater at its tip was breathed on
continuously for a minute or two.
Elements detected by addition of a strong base
and heating of organic compounds
Set-up 1: In a small beaker, approximately
1.0 g of urea was added with 5 mL of 3M NaOH
and was heated gently with stirring. Two strips of
litmus papers were then moistened and was
placed on the bottom of a watch glass that was
then placed over the beaker containing the heated
urea solution.
Set-up 2: Approximately 5 mL of an albumin
solution was transferred into a test tube and was
added with approximately 2 mL of 3 M NaOH. The
two solutions were then mixed by gently shaking
the tube. Half of the mixture was transferred into
another test tube and the other half was heated
gently for 3 minutes and was then allowed to cool
down. A solution of 0.1M lead acetate by 1 mL was
then dropped into each of the two test tubes
containing the heated and unheated albumin-
NaOH solution.
Beilstein Test
Different substances/solutions (3M HCl, 3M
KI, 3M CHCl3, 3M NaBr, 3M KCl, and saliva) were
prepared for the test. The clean copper wire was
first purified by holding its end into the hottest part
of the burner flame until any color that is present
disappeared. The wire was then dipped into the
substance to be tested and exposed to the flame
one after the other but not before purifying once
again.
Differences in Properties of Organic and
Inorganic Compounds
Differences in melting point
A few crystals of NaCl was placed on one
side of the evaporating dish with a similar amount
of C12H22O11 on the other side. The evaporating
dish was, using the hot plate, gently heated at first continuous
breathing
with its heat increased until the dish is eventually
red-hot. The NaCl was then removed and the
Table 2. Elements detected by addition of a
residue from the C12H22O11 was then heated strong base and heating of organic compounds
strongly until there was no change. Method Results/Observations
Mixing of heated
Differences in conductivity sodium
Urine smell was observed
hydroxide and
Urea
The following substances/solutions were
Exposure of 2
tested of their conductivity using a conductivity litmus papers
apparatus: (red and blue) to Red litmus = turned blue
the gas that Blue litmus = stayed as is
evolved from the
Sodium chloride, potassium iodide, benzene,
previous reaction
sucrose, and water. Mixing of
No apparent/observable
albumin solution
reaction
Differences in Ionization and NaOH
Heating of the
Slightly turned brown
Approximately 1 mL of a 0.1M NaCl solution mixture
Addition of lead
was transferred into a test tube, and a similar acetate to the Solution turned dark brown
amount of CHCl3 solution into another test tube. heated mixture
Addition of lead Small amount of white
About 2-3 drops of 1% silver nitrate solution were acetate to the precipitate formed with
then added into each of the test tubes. heated mixture light brown color

Results Table 3. Beilstein test

Method Results/Observations
Table 1. Elements detected by combustion of Beilstein testing of
organic compounds NaBr – Orange*, HCl
different
Method Results/Observations – Blue*, KI – Orange*,
solutions/substances
Combustion of CHCl3 – Orange *,
Formation of moisture (3M HCl, 3M KI, 3 M
Propane and KCl – Orange*, Saliva
underneath the beaker CHCl3, 3M NaBr, 3 M
Butane – green *
KCl, and saliva)
Calcium * observation is faulty
hydroxide
Table 4. Differences in melting point
exposed to the Showed white precipitate
gas from the Method Results/Observations
flame Heating of both
C12H22O11 – caramelized
Calcium C12H22O11 and
Showed little amount of NaCl – stayed as is
hydroxide NaCl
white precipitate C12H22O11 C12H22O11 – turned
exposed to
residue was ash/black-colored
 further heated Acabal et. al (2015), the resulting products of the
strongly
complete combustion of all organic compounds
containing only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are
Table 5. Differences in conductivity all the same – which are CO2 and H2O. As seen
Method Results/Observations
Conductivity test on Table 1., on the Results section, when a beaker
(using a conductivity NaCl – light was containing cold water was exposed 1 inch above
apparatus) of observed, KI – light
different was observed; a non-luminous flame (complete combustion), the
substances/solutions Benzene, sucrose, beaker accumulated moisture underneath it. It can
(NaCl, KI, Benzene, and distilled water –
sucrose and distilled no light was observed then simply be said that the observation supported
water) the previous claims/theory that CO2 and H2O are
Table 6. Differences in Ionization the products of combusted organic compounds
Method Results/Observations containing only hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon.
Addition, by
drops, of 1% Since the LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) is a
AgNO3 + NaCl → white
AgNO3 solution mixture of propane and butane, the reaction can
precipitate
was added to
AgNO3 + CHCl3 → two then be represented as:
both NaCl
layers of liquid (immiscible)
solution and
CHCl3 C3H8 (l) + 5 O2 (g) → 3 CO2 (g) + 4 H2O (g)

2 C4H10 (l) + 13 O2 (g) → 8 CO2 + 10 H2O

Discussion
Tests for Elements Present in Organic
Compound
Organic compounds have reactions unique
only to them/a group of them which then, in turn,
could be used as an indicator of their presence/the
presence of elements in the compounds using
tests/processes that caters to their uniqueness;
one example for that is combustion which is used
to detect the presence of hydrogen and oxygen in
an organic compound (although the detection of
oxygen is a dilemma whether it originally came
from the compound or from the air). According to
The moisture found beneath the beaker was
the water vapor condensed by the relatively cold
temperature caused by the cold water in the
beaker. Since the boiling point of CO2 is −78.5 °C
and is colorless in gas form (not too concentrated)
then basing on its appearance for its presence is
more or less impossible. However, to test for the
presence of carbon, it can be made to react with
limewater (calcium hydroxide solution). As seen
on Table 1, when calcium hydroxide was exposed
to the gas produced by the non-luminous flame
(which is, in theory, CO2), it produced a white
precipitate. The same with calcium hydroxide
being exposed to continuous breathing (which
also, in theory, contains CO2) for 1-2 minutes, it
also produced a white precipitate (which is the
appearance of calcium carbonate). It can then be
deduced that the compounds in the LPG (propane
and butane) contain carbon and that the reaction
can be trusted since calcium hydroxide reaction
also produced the white precipitate when exposed
to breathing – which, undeniably, contains CO2.
The reaction between CO2 and CaOH2 are as
follows:
CO2 (g) + CaOH2 (aq) → CaCO3 (s) + H2O (l)
Further on, there are elements found in
organic compounds that are entangled into
complex molecular structure where it is hard for
tests to detect the said element’s presence without
first ‘’taking them out’’ from the structural
convolution; hence, the use of strong bases
coupled with heating is of big help in these tests.
As seen on Table 2., the strong base used was
Sodium hydroxide, and the analyte organic
compounds were Urea (CH4N2O) and Albumin –
these both compounds were tested whether what
element do they possess other than carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen. When urea was added
with NaOH and then heated it produced a urine-
like smell, theoretically because the compound
was hydrolyzed by the strong base causing an
ammonia gas to evolve. It should be noted that
one way to detect a nitrogen in an organic
compound is the tendency of the compound to
produce ammonia which is also characterized by
a urine odor. To further confirm the presence of
another element in the compound, a pH test using
a litmus paper was done on the object by
moistening the two litmus papers (red and blue)
beneath a watch glass and letting it sit upon the
mouth of the beaker to expose the papers on the
gas evolved from the solution. It was observed that
the red litmus paper turned blue while the blue
litmus paper stayed as is – indicating that the gas
evolved was a base. Pooling the two observations,
urine smell and basic gas, it was then confirmed
that the gas evolved was an ammonia and that the
organic compound urea does possess a nitrogen
element. The supposed chemical reaction is as
follows:
NaOH + CH4N2O → NaOCN + NH3 + H2O
On the other hand, when the albumin was added
with NaOH, there was no observable
reaction/appearance change; the solution was
then divided and transferred into two test tubes
where the other test tube was heated. The heated
solution, upon heating, turned a slightly dark
brown color. The slight production of color brown
when NaOH was added to the albumin and heated
was due to the denaturation of the protein caused
by the strong base. In the presence of NaOH, the
secondary structure of the denatured protein is
destroyed, and hydrogen bonds are broken (Zhao
et. al, 2014) causing some elements to be slightly
unbound from the entanglement of the molecular
structure causing a color change upon the
compound; furthermore, the introduction of heat
also helped in disrupting the hydrogen bonds and
non-polar hydrophobic interactions. This Is
because heat increases the kinetic energy and
causes the molecules to vibrate violently that the
bonds break. Continuing, approximately 1 mL of
0.1 M lead acetate was then added to both
solutions – the heated and unheated – where it
reacted and produced a dark brown color for the
heated and a small amount of white precipitate
and light brown color for the unheated. Knowing
that the albumin has been denatured, it is
theoretically implied that some elements are now
reactive; so when lead acetate was added to the
heated solution and the compound turned into a
dark brown color, and in literature, it is an
implication of the formation of lead sulfide or
simply the presence of the sulfur element. For the
unheated solution, the white precipitate formed is
an implication that it is the sodium hydroxide that
reacted with the lead acetate with little number of
sulfides due to the slight turning to brown color of
the compound.
Lastly, to test the presence of organic
halides/halides, Beilstein test proves useful.
Beilstein test, the same as flame test, uses the
concept of electron excitation and decay where an
atom produces specific wavelength and frequency
of light after its electron loses its excitation after
absorbing heat but is specifically targeted on
halides (chlorine, bromine, or iodine). In a Beilstein
test, the medium used for flame exposure is a
copper wire and when heated in a flame its surface
is oxidized to produce a coper (II) oxide:
2 Cu(s) + O2(g) ⟶ 2 CuO(s)
Further on, when mixed with a halide solution and
followed by heating the higher reduction potential
of a halide makes it displace the oxygen.
An example with HCl is shown below:
CuO(s) + 2 HCl(aq) ⟶ CuCl2(g) + H2O(g)
When a copper halide is heated, and after the
electron excitation and decay occurred, it should
emit a green flame indicating the presence of a
halide (‘’Beilstein’s test’’, 2019). As seen on table
3, on the Results section, the solutions of NaBr,
HCl, CHCl3, and KCl was not observed to exhibit
the green flame, due most probably, to impurities
not removed before the actual test. For the Iodide
flame color, the group member that conducted the
procedure was not able to use the Cobalt glass to
observe the correct flame color – which is lilac. For
the saliva recorded to emit a green flame color, a
halide impurity must have emitted the green flame
color overshadowing the normal orange flame
color for the saliva, considering that the saliva was
the last one to be tested.
Differences in Properties of Organic and
Inorganic Compounds
The difference in properties of Organic
and Inorganic compounds prove to be very useful
in distinguishing the two to avoid confusion and
complications. Three examples of properties that
Organic and Inorganic differ are: melting point,
conductivity, and ionization. Theoretically, the
factor that predominantly affect the melting point
of a compound is the Intermolecular forces of
attraction. The stronger the IMFA, the higher the
melting point, that is why, generally, inorganic and
ionic compounds tend to have a higher melting
point than organic compounds which are all polar
and non-polar compounds. As seen on table 4,
when both sugar and table salt were heated at the
same time, the sugar caramelized / melted very
quickly compared to salt which looked like it was
left unscathed; complying to the theory that,
generally, an inorganic compound exhibit a higher
melting point than an organic compound. For the
sugar, the reaction that occurred when it turned
black/ashy was a thermal decomposition reaction;
the black mass observed was predominantly pure
carbon, with water released as vapor. The
following is a representation of the thermal
decomposition of sucrose:
C12 H22O11 → 12 C+11 H2O
For the conductivity of a
substance/solution, it mainly depends upon the
ability of a substance to dissociate and form ions
and then allow electricity to follow within;
generally, inorganic and ionic compounds are the
strongest in conductivity followed by polar
compounds while non-polar compounds, mostly
organic, tend to slight to never host electricity
depending on the sensitivity of the conductivity
apparatus. As seen on Table 5, all of the results
conformed to the theory as stated beforehand; the
solutions of NaCl and KI, all ionic and inorganic
compounds, conducted electricity which in turn
have let the conductivity apparatus bulb light up.
On the other hand, benzene, sucrose, both
organic and non-polar, and distilled water, a polar
compound, was not observed to conduct
electricity.
Lastly, the ionization of a compound, the
same with conductivity, depends on its tendency
to dissociate and form ions. Only inorganic
compounds dissociate into ions when exposed to
water while organic compounds do not. As seen
on table 6, 2-3 drops of 1% silver nitrate was
added on two test tubes containing an NaCl
solution and a CHCl3 solution. For the NaCl, the
addition caused a reaction that resulted a white
precipitate; while with the CHCl3 solution, it did not
produce any types of precipitate, only forming two
layers of immiscible liquid – a solution of an ionic
compound and a solution of a polar compound. Chemistry, DoPAC Visayas State
The mechanism for the two reactions is as follows: University. pp. 3-7 (unpublished)
AgNO3 (aq) + NaCl (aq) → AgCl (s) + NaNO3 (aq) (2) Beilistein’s Test. (2019). Retrieved from:
AgNO3 (aq) + CHCl3 (aq) → no reaction https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10
.1093/oi/authority.20110803095456269

Conclusion (3) Yan Zhao, Yonggang Tu, Jianke Li,

Mingsheng Xu, Youxian Yang, Xuliang
The experiment proved that several
Nie, Yao Yao, Huaying Du, Effects of
procedures/techniques are useful in identifying
alkaline concentration, temperature, and
elements organic compounds; the albumin was
additives on the strength of alkaline-
proved to contain a sulfur element and the urea a
induced egg white gel, Poultry Science,
nitrogen element. Furthermore, the stark
Volume 93, Issue 10, October 2014,
differences of the properties of organic
Pages 2628-2635,
compounds from inorganic compounds – in terms
https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2013-03596
of: melting point, conductivity, and ionization –
were taken advantage of in distinguishing the two
– organic compounds, generally, possess lower
melting point, lower conductivity, and little to no
ionization as compared to inorganic compounds.

Acknowledgement
The author would like to acknowledge his
Organic chemistry laboratory members for their
cooperation; to Dianna Nayre and Francis Carlo
Lao, the author’s fellow experiment 1 reporter
(One for all, all for one!); and lastly, to God for his
ever-sustaining grace.

References
(1) Acabal, AM, Quevedo, ES, Lazona, YP,
Bandibas, KNS (2015). Laboratory
Manual in Chem 125 – Organic