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organic chemistry

in a few organic reactions the products containes one more carbon atom than the starting material

write the equation for a reaction in which the organic compound bromoethane whicn contains 2 carbon atoms is converted into an organic compound which contains 3 carbon atoms

state conditions for this reaction
It is reacted with a nitrile, e.g KCN and the extra C comes from the nitrile. the reaction is nucleophillic substitution :smile: hopefully this helps a little :smile:
The conditions will be on your toolkit, I can't remember them right now, I'm sure some ethanol (aq) comes into it, but don't quote me on that :/
It may just be KCN and reflux actually. But you'll have to check that :smile:
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 2
Avatar for uzer
uzer
OP
9
hi can you please explain this

ethanol may be converted into propanoic acid in a three stage process which uses ethanol as the only organic compound

C2H5OH (step 1 ) ----> K (step 2) ----> L (step 3) ----> C2H5CO2H

thanks for the help
Original post by uzer
hi can you please explain this

ethanol may be converted into propanoic acid in a three stage process which uses ethanol as the only organic compound

C2H5OH (step 1 ) ----> K (step 2) ----> L (step 3) ----> C2H5CO2H

thanks for the help

Okay, so in step 1, we want to convert ethanol into bromoethane by refluxing with HBr (aq). This is step one and K is bromoethane.

Next, we need to add an extra C. This is done by nuclephillic substitution with a nitrile group. So we react bromoethane with KCN and ethanol (aq) and reflux it. This gives L as:

CH3CH2CN.

Now we have our extra carbon and all we need to do is hydrolyse the CN bond to form a carboxylic acid.

And so step 3 is reacting our propanenitrile with concentrated sulfuric acid, water and then reflux.

This gives the required propanoic acid.

Hope this helps you :smile:
Reply 4
Avatar for uzer
uzer
OP
9
Original post by mathematigeek
Okay, so in step 1, we want to convert ethanol into bromoethane by refluxing with HBr (aq). This is step one and K is bromoethane.

Next, we need to add an extra C. This is done by nuclephillic substitution with a nitrile group. So we react bromoethane with KCN and ethanol (aq) and reflux it. This gives L as:

CH3CH2CN.

Now we have our extra carbon and all we need to do is hydrolyse the CN bond to form a carboxylic acid.

And so step 3 is reacting our propanenitrile with concentrated sulfuric acid, water and then reflux.

This gives the required propanoic acid.

Hope this helps you :smile:


so does n react with sulphuric acid to form nitrogen sulphate
Original post by uzer
so does n react with sulphuric acid to form nitrogen sulphate

Not too sure if I'm honest :/ I'm really sorry :frown:
Reply 6
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uzer
OP
9
Original post by mathematigeek
Not too sure if I'm honest :/ I'm really sorry :frown:


but there wouldnt be a nitrogen in the final product right?
Original post by uzer
but there wouldnt be a nitrogen in the final product right?

Not in the carboxylic acid, but yes, there will be a product that contains nitrogen as a part of the reaction. I'm just unsure of what it would be :smile:
Reply 8
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uzer
OP
9
ok thanks for the help :smile: :wink:

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