Alcohols

• Remember the 'e' at the end of the parent alkane e.g. butanE-1,2-diol
• Remember when naming alcohols with more than one OH group.
• One OH- ol

  Two OH- diol

  Three OH- triol
• Alcohols can be defined as primary, secondary and tertiary.
• Primary: the carbon carrying the OH is bonded to one other carbon

  Secondary: the carbon carrying the OH is bonded to two other carbons

  Tertiary: the carbon carrying the OH group is bonded to three other carbons
• Distillation of a primary alcohol produces an aldehyde.
• The aldehyde will have a lower boiling point than the alcohol because it has van der Waals intermoceular forces compared to the hydrogen bonding between the alcohol molecules.
• The reaction mixture is alcohol plus Cr2O7 2- / H+. It is an orange colour.
• Reflux is used to produce a carboxylic acid from an aldehyde or primary alcohol, or to produce a ketone from a secondary alcohol.
• In a reflux set up, the condenser jacket is placed vertically on the flash to prevent gases escaping.
• Primary alcohols can be oxidised to aldehydes using distillation.
• Primary alcohols can be oxidised to carboxylic acids using reflux.
• Once reflux reaction is complete, distillation is used to separate the remaining mixture.
• Mark point: For a condensing jacket, water in the bottom, out at top. This is so the jacket fully fills up before exiting.
• Mark Point: Bung with thermometer on top of the pear shaped flask so that the gas doesn't escape.
• Aldehydes have dipole-dipole and van der Waals intermolecular forces, whereas carboxylic acid has an OH group which has hydrogen bonding.
• Secondary alcohols can be oxidised to ketones using distillation or reflux.
• Can reflux secondary alcohols to ensure its all reacted before distillation.
• Anti-bumping granules are used in distillation and reflux. These are small uneven shaped pieces of an inert substance that prevents large bubbles of steam forming, which ensures that the mixture boils calmly and doesn't shoot up into the condenser.