Chlorination of primary and secondary alcohols

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Created by
Sophie Grainger

Cards (4)

  • Chlorination of primary/secondary alcohols is carried out using phosphorous (V) chloride (phosphorous pentachloride). This is a highly vigorous reaction at room temperature, so no heating is required.
  • Phosphorous oxychloride has the symbol POCl3.
  • The word equation for the chlorination of propan-1-ol (a primary alcohol) is propan-1-ol + phosphorous pentachloride -> chloropropane + phosphorous oxychloride + hydrogen chloride.
  • The symbol equation for the chlorination of propan-1-ol (a primary alcohol) is CH3CH2CH2OH + PCl5 -> CH3CH2CH2Cl + POCl3 + HCl.