× Didn't find what you were looking for? Ask a question
Top Posters
Since Sunday
New Topic  
miamor miamor
wrote...
Posts: 12
Rep: 0 0
10 years ago
I recently added cyclohexane to ethanol, 1-butanol, and 2-propanol - cyclohexane didn't dissolve in the first two alcohols which is expected since they are polar. But 2-propanol is polar and it dissolved in cyclohexane? why? is it something to do with 2-propanol being a secondary alcohol?
Read 650 times
1 Reply

Related Topics

Replies
wrote...
10 years ago
yes! it has to do with its being a secondary alcohol.

when we say 2-propanol, produced by combining water and propylene. There are two processes for achieving this: indirect hydration (sulfuric acid process) and direct hydration. The former process, which can use low quality propylene, predominates in the USA while the latter process, which requires high-purity propylene, is more commonly used in Europe. These processes give predominantely isopropyl alcohol rather than propan-1-ol because the addition of water (or sulfuric acid) to propylene follows Markovnikov's rule.

Being a secondary alcohol, isopropanol can be oxidised to the ketone acetone. This can be achieved using oxidising agents such as chromic acid, or by dehydrogenation of isopropanol over a heated copper catalyst This is why we couldn't dissolve 2 propanol with cyclo hexane

Howver, we could use cyclohexane to produce pure 2 propanol from wet isopropyl alcohol in the process of azeotropic distillation. cyclohexane here is used as an azeotroping agent.
New Topic      
Explore
Post your homework questions and get free online help from our incredible volunteers
  1288 People Browsing
Related Images
  
 620
  
 240
  
 276
Your Opinion
Who will win the 2024 president election?
Votes: 3
Closes: November 4