alcohols

• alcohols have a higher melting point than other organic compounds due to the presence of the polar hydroxyl group

  this group allows for hydrogen bonding to be set up between the molecules, meaning more energy is required to break the hydrogen bonding, as hydrogen bonds are stronger than LDF's, hence the higher melting point
• as the chain length increases, the solubility decreases

  smaller alcohols are miscible with water because they can hydrogen bond with water, larger alcohols are not because the long non-polar hydrocarbon part of the molecule masks the polar hydroxyl group
• preparation

  • haloalkanes by substitution
  • alkenes by acid-catalysed hydration
  • aldehydes and keytones by reduction
• preparation

  heating monohaloalkanes under reflux with aqueous sodium or potassium hydroxide

  nucleophilic substitution
• preparation

  reacting alkenes with water in the presence of sulfuric acid as a catalyst

  this is an acid-catalysed addition or hydration reaction
• preparation

  aldehydes and keytones by reacting with lithium aluminium hydride dissolved in ether

  this is a reduction reaction

  aldehyde -> primary alcohol

  keytone -> secondary alcohol
• reactions

  alcohols can react with reactive metals, like sodium or potassium, to form alkoxides

  this is a displacement reaction
• reactions

  they can react with aluminium oxides, or concentrated sulfuric or phosphoric acid to from alkenes

  this is a dehydration or elimination reaction

  the OH group and an adjacent H group is removed and forms 2 alkenes, but sometimes only 1
• reactions

  they can react with carboxylic acids or acid chlorides to form esters

  this is a condensation or esterification reaction

  the reaction with the carboxylic acid requires a sulfuric acid catalyst