Questions tagged [alcohols]
For questions about saturated and unsaturated alcohols, their physical properties, their reactions, etc. For questions about phenol, use the [phenols] tag instead.
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Ingredients for cleaning optical elements
I have recently purchased a cleaning solution for precision optics which has the following ingredients (amounts were not specified):
Ethyl Alcohol
Methylethylketon
Aqua
Diethyl Ether
Isopropyl
...
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0answers
30 views
Pinacol-Pinacole Rearrangement [duplicate]
in my book it's shown $\ce{H+}$ attacked the $\ce{-OH}$ where the bulky group is present, however migratory aptitude shows that $\ce{H+}$ should attack on methyl side ($\ce{-OH}$ where methyl group ...
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When alcohol is used to sterilize, what about it changes that it can't be re-used? [closed]
I read online that when you use regular household rubbing alcohol to soak something for sterilization purposes, you're then supposed to toss it out. I'm just curious why.
Like, as long as there's a ...
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1answer
51 views
Which reaction occurs first when 5-hexen-1-ol reacts with sulfuric acid?
I am trying to solve this question:
Find the major product of the following reaction:
Now we could either do electrophilic addition on the alkene or do dehydration of alcohol. These two ...
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2answers
104 views
Why doesn't ethanol dissolve in sodium bicarbonate?
Today I experimented with different solvents and solutes and was a bit surprised by one result. When I added ethanol to dilute sodium bicarbonate and tapped the test tube against my palm to mix it, I ...
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1answer
30 views
What is an example of an isopropyl alcohol resistant caulk?
What is a caulk (or bonding adhesive) that can be exposed permanently submerged in an isopropyl alcohol (>91%) bath?
The idea came from this previous question:
Silicone vs Alcohol
It seems from one ...
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0answers
14 views
How to confirm experimentally that a hemi-acetal compound has formed?
I have read that under mildly acidic or alkaline conditions alcohols can attack aldehydes/ketones to produce hemi-acetals. But the reaction is reversible, so the reactants and the hemia-cetal are in ...
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28 views
Alcohol Nonmeclature - Organic Chemistry
I'm new to organic chemistry and having some trouble naming alcohols. I came across this molecule, I believe it's name is 3-ethyl 2-pentanol, but my online checker system is saying that I am wrong. Am ...
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23 views
Diketone intramolecular reaction question
I realize that one of the methyl groups on either carbonyl compound will become deprotonated and then it will attack the other carbonyl to form a pentane ring. However, with the methyl group in the ...
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1answer
42 views
Role of hcl gas in organic reactions [closed]
I encountered many questions in the competitive exam field of high school organic chemistry where we add some compounds and treat it in excess alcohol solutions in the presence of dry hcl gas, it is ...
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35 views
Hemiacetal formation mechanism
The question is asking which reagents can be used to carry out this reaction. I get the L (PCC) is used to turn the primary alcohol into an aldehyde. However, I believe that is not the only reagent ...
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0answers
27 views
Ethyl acetate produces red colour on ceric ammonium nitrate test
When I did CAN test on ethyl acetate red colour was seen. I thought water may get added with Ethyl acetate to produce
this compound which in turn gave red coloration but carbon should not make three ...
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2answers
388 views
Why is the Lucas test not recommended to differentiate higher alcohols?
I read about the Lucas test for alcohols in which a cloudy precipitate is produced with a tertiary or secondary alcohol. However, on a side note it was mentioned that this test is useful only for ...
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1answer
60 views
Doubts Regarding Ceric Ammonium Nitrate Test for Alcohols
I read about Ceric Ammonium Nitrate Test for Alcohols and a red colour is produced if the solution has an alcohol functional group however as a side note it was mentioned that this test is only useful ...
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1answer
34 views
Neutralize the smell of alcohol in liquid chalk
i'm trying to mix my own liquid chalk, which is a simple mixture of chalk and a high percentage alcohol in a ~2 part chalk 1 part alcohol relation.
Unfortunately the smell is rather intensive and I ...
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1answer
51 views
Is there an easy way to detect methanol in spirits (which may have been adulterated)?
Is there an easy way to detect methanol in spirits, which, you suspect, may have been adulterated?
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1answer
48 views
Synthesis of phenethyl alcohol from benzene
How can I make phenethyl alcohol $(\ce{C6H5CH2CH2OH})$ from benzene?
I have got information that phenethyl alcohol is made from benzene by Friedel-Crafts reaction between benzene and ethylene oxide ...
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0answers
32 views
Does 2,2-dimethylpropan-1-ol give a positive Lucas test?
I learnt that the Lucas test involves the formation of a carbocation and it gives a positive test based on the stability of the carbocation formed, and hence primary alcohols do not show turbidity (...
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1answer
190 views
Does benzene react with steam to create an alcohol?
Benzene has a molecular formula of $\ce{C6H6},$ right? Surely it has some alkene-like properties because of the double bonds, so can it undergo a hydration reaction to create alcohol?
2
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1answer
56 views
Reaction between 1-methylcyclopentanol and potassium permanganate
In my basic organic chemistry class, I learned that only primary and secondary alcohols undergo oxidation (using $\ce{KMnO4}$).
However, what is the outcome of reacting tertiary alcohol (1-...
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1answer
298 views
List of primary, secondary and tertiary alcohol [closed]
Is there a list of primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols examples anywhere?
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1answer
103 views
Enthalpy of combustion of 1-butanol
1-butanol $\ce{C4H10O}$
So I have absolutely no idea how to find the enthalpy and I did some looking on the internet with no use since I don't understand.
I came here hoping someone generous could ...
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0answers
33 views
Comparing the emission spectrum of ethanol and mixture of alcohols
Sorry if this question has a simple answer, but I've been unable to find it elsewhere.
Using a diffraction grating, burning ethanol (99.9%) will produce a rainbow of colours. However, when burning ...
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1answer
175 views
what is mechanism for reaction phenol + dimethylsulphate -> anisole
Dimethyl sulphate breaks the oh bond and forms anisole. How does the reaction proceed?? is it oxygen lone pair attacks on sulphur which has partial positive charge?? the reaction takes place in ...
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0answers
45 views
Oxidation of diols to dialdehydes
How could 1,4-butanediol be converted to 1,4-butandial (succinic aldehyde)? I thought of simple oxidation with CuO but apparently it yields gamma-butyryllactone according to erowid (https://erowid.org/...
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1answer
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Isopropyl Alcohol leaves a white haze on plastic, is there anything I can use to clean it off?
Recently I wanted to clean up some lubricant on some keyboard switches. On some forums, an Isopropyl alcohol bath was recommended so I decided to give that a try and went to purchase some 91% ...
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0answers
62 views
Why mixing water with ethanol produces heat energy? [closed]
Sorry if I'm asking something stupid but I'm trying to understand where this energy gets from. As far as I could find, it is not a reaction as both chemicals left unchanged, so it might have something ...
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0answers
21 views
Is there a simpler way to detect alcohol in a blood sample using IR spectroscopy?
I have seen all sorts of ways to detect alcohol using NIRS (Near InfraRed Spectrscopy) or FTIR, but they are all quite complicated in that they are using and analyzing a very wide spectrum. In ...
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0answers
26 views
Why does energy need to be “compensated” in order for solvation to occur?
I am currently learning about the physical properties of alcohols.
I understand that the main intermolecular forces between alcohols and water are hydrogen bonds. When these two are mixed, the ...
4
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2answers
201 views
Mechanism of ring formation of an epoxide under acidic aqueous conditions
I am trying to figure out the mechanism of this reaction:
I think the $\ce{H+}$ will first attack the oxygen of the epoxide and another $\ce{OH-}$ will be added to the most substituted carbocation, ...
2
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1answer
53 views
Can you lower the alcohol concentration of a drink using vegetable oils?
The log POW of ethanol is −0.18 according to Wikipedia, i.e. in a two-phase system ethanol would preferrably accumulate in the aqueous phase, but not by much.
Suppose I wanted to lower the alcohol ...
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0answers
20 views
Using Wilkinson's Catalyst to reduce esters?
I was solving some questions on alcohols when I came upon a question in which it was asked that whether esters can be reduced using hydrogen in the prescence of wilkinson's catalyst.
Now I know that ...
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1answer
103 views
Why primary alcohol follows SN1 mechanism?
Example 2: Identify all the products formed in the following reaction and indicate the major product.
Solution: Three products will be formed in the given reaction as shown below:
In ...
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193 views
Why is Lithium Chloride (LiCl) soluble in alcohols?
According do J.D. Lee's Concise Inorganic Chemistry, LiCl is soluble in alcohols because it has some covalent nature, althought it is mainly polar.
Why would LiCl have covalent character? Why doesn't ...
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55 views
Potassium ethoxide
Is it possible to make potassium ethoxide by mixing $\ce{KOH}$ and $\ce{EtOH}$ in the presence of a dehydrating agent like $\ce{MgSO4}$ or $\ce{CaO}$ or $\ce{K2CO3}$?
The easy way is adding metallic ...
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127 views
Victor Mayer test for 2° alcohol
In the last step in Victor Mayer test for 2° alcohol, why do we need to add an alkali like NaOH? Isn't pseudo nitrolic acid that is formed already blue in colour?
What would be the reaction of alkali ...
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2answers
434 views
Does propylene glycol dissolve plastic?
According to Médecins Sans Frontières propylene glycol can dissolve plastic:
As propylene glycol can dissolve plastic... (Source).
Is this claim true? This seems rather spurious to me. If it ...
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0answers
38 views
How do I draw a curly arrow diagram for the oxidation of primary alcohol to an aldehyde and subsequently to a carboxylic acid? [duplicate]
I've determined the chemical equations for both the mechanisms, but I'm unable to draw curly arrow diagrams for the two reactions using potassium dichromate as the oxidising reagent. I'm not sure how ...
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1answer
64 views
Ester of glycerol and glyceric acid
What is the ester of glycerol ($\ce{C3H8O3}$) and glyceric acid ($\ce{C3H6O4}$)? I couldn't find any information about it online, so is this reaction even possible?
I'm not sure what would happen, ...
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1answer
88 views
Is 99% Isopropyl Alcohol sold in stores really 99%?
My understanding is that an azeotropic mixture of isopropanol and water is 91%. This makes sense as to why there are so many brands of rubbing alcohol sold at 91%. There are also some sold as 99%, ...
2
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1answer
58 views
Techniques to extract lipids
I am planning an experiment on how to isolate casein and part of the process involves removing any lipids that may still be in it after filtering the precipitated casein out of the milk. I have read ...
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40 views
Comparing acidity in 3,4-dihydroxyfuran-2(5H)-one and 2,3-dihydroxycyclopent-2-en-1-one
I have two compounds with two hydrogens namely (a),(b),(c) and (d). I have to compare the acidity of the following hydrogens.
My approach:
I removed the hydrogen atoms one by one and compared the ...
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1answer
234 views
Dependence of primary alcohol oxidation on presence of water and “strong” or “weak” oxidants
It is known that the oxidation of primary alcohols can result in aldehydes or carboxylic acids. The product obtained from the reaction is described as dependent on reagents and conditions;[1]
"...
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1answer
53 views
Reaction of cyclobutylmethanol with HX
I am interested in the reaction of cyclobutylmethanol with HX where these are the only reagents.
My question is whether the reaction proceeds via SN1 or SN2. My reference text insists that primary ...
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0answers
81 views
Ethyl Acetate and other Solvents in a mixture: miscibility and stability
I was wondering about a heterogeneous solvent mixture containing multiple alcohols such as IPA, Ethanol, methanol etc. Would EtOAc (Ethyl Acetate) play nice in these mixtures at low volumes such as 1 ...
4
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1answer
83 views
Chemical shifts of OH protons
The chemical shift of a proton is an indication of the amount of shielding it receives from the electron density on it or other magnetic anisotropy effects present in the molecule. For the protons of ...
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1answer
65 views
What is the name of this organic compound?
The organic compound in question is shown above. This is how I tried to name it:
Start from the left hanging $\ce{H_3C}$.
$\ce{OH}$ gets the number 2 and $\ce{NH_2}$ gets 6. The lowest numbers ...
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46 views
Should I use MCPBA here?
I came across a question that asked for a method to convert propene to glycerol. I used the method in the pic, but I'm worried about two steps-
Step-2, This reaction is just made up by myself! I'm ...
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1answer
92 views
Acid catalysed dehydration of unsymmetric alcohols
How to find the major product of acid catalysed dehydration of unsymmetric alcohols. For example, in the dehydration of butan-2-ol using conc. H2SO4, which is the major product? But-1-ene or But-2-ene?...
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31 views
Is the negative excess volume of ethanol/water the cause of my math error?
I have a binary mixture, say ethanol at $90\%wt$ ethanol, $10\%wt$ water. According to Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook 9th Ed., that mixture has a density of $0.81797g/cc$ (at $20^{\circ}C$). ...
