Alcohols Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is the general formula for alcohols?
C(n)H(2n+1)OH
What is the functional group of alcohols?
-OH (hydroxyl)
What are 4 smallest alcohols?
smalles to largest: Methanol - CH(3)OH Ethanol - C(2)H(5)OH Propanol - C(3)H(7)OH Butanol - C(4)H(9)OH
How does the formula of the first 4 alcohols increase
An extra CH(2) is added with each increase
What happens when alcohols react with an oxidising agent?
A carboxylic acid is produced
What happen when alcohols react with sodium?
Hydrogen is produced
What happens when alcohols react with water?
The alcohols dissolve to give a neutral solution
What happens when alcohols react with air (and heat ofc)
Carbon dioxide and water is produced
What is a carboxylic acid?
A carboxylic acid is an organic compound that contains a carboxyl group
What is the functional group of carboxylic acids?
-(COOH) (carboxyl)
-C=O
I
Oh
What is the general formula for carboxylic acids?
C(n)H(2n+1)COOH
Are carboxylic acids strong or weak and how do we know this?
They are weak acids because they only partially ionise in water (not all the hydrogen atoms disassociate to form H+ ions)
What happens when carboxylic acids react with carbonates?
They produce a SALT + CARBON DIOXIDE + WATER
What happens when carboxylic acids react with water
They dissolve to give acidic solutions
What happens when carboxylic acids react with alcohols?
They produce an ester and water:
E.g. ethanoic acid + ethanol → ethyl ethanoate + water
What is produced when an alcohol is oxidised?
The carboxylic acid of that alcohol is produced (e.g when propanol is oxidised, propanoic acid is produced)
What is fermentation?
The process of adding yeast to a sugar solution, this produces:
- An aqueous solution of ethanol
- Carbon dioxide
What conditions are necessary for fermentation?
ideal conditions are:
- Temperature at around 37 degrees Celsius
- A slightly acidic solution
- Anaerobic condition (no oxygen)
How can we extract the ethanol from the ethanol mixture we get from fermentation?
We can use fractional distillation to get the ethanol, this allows the producer to make a higher concentration of ethanol
What is the general formula for carboxylic acids?
C(n-1)H(2n+1)COOH
How do we know that alcohol react in a similar way to other alcohols
They are members of a homologous series and have the same functional group so we can predict how other molecules in that series will react
What will we get when ethanolic acid is dissolved in water
Ethanolic acid is slightly ionising so it produces the ethanoate ion and H+
