Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Tests
Examiners
love
asking
questions
on
simple
chemical
tests,
particularly
the
organic
ones.
These
should
be
very
easy
marks.
One
way
to
remember
them
is
to
compile
a
list
(see
below)
on
one
piece
of
paper
and
look
over
them
for
a
few
minutes
a
day.
You
will
see
that
there
are
not
that
many
tests.
Aldehyde/ketone:
Brady's
Reagent
(also
known
as
2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine
or
2,4-DNP)
to
test
for
a
carbonyl
group
in
an
aldehyde
or
ketone
Test
result:
if
an
aldehyde
or
ketone
is
present
a
bright
orange
precipitate
forms.
You
can
then
take
the
melting
point
of
the
precipitate
and
compare
it
to
the
literature
value.
Edexcel:
you
dont
need
to
know
the
structure
of
the
reagent
or
precipitates
but
there
have
been
the
occasional
question
on
structures.
You
might
as
well
know
that
2,4-DNP
is
a
nitrogen
nucleophile
and
the
precipitate
contains
a
C=N
bond.
It
is
a
nucleophilic
reaction.
Aldehyde/ketone:
Fehling's/
Benedicts
Solution
and
Tollen's
Reagent
to
distinguish
between
an
aldehyde
and
a
ketone
Fehling's/Benedicts:
Fehlings
solution
is
Cu(II)
ions
dissolved
in
NaOH
(blue
solution).
Benedicts
is
also
Cu(II)
solution
but
dissolved
in
Na2CO3.
Test
results:
both
give
a
red
coloured
copper(I)
oxide
precipitate
when
heated
with
an
aldehyde,
a
ketone
won't
react.
Tollen's
(the
silver
mirror
test):
the
reagent
is
silver
nitrate
dissolved
in
aqueous
ammonia.
Test
result:
Tollens
solution
is
heated
with
the
aldehyde
leaving
a
silver
mirror
on
the
test
tube.
A
ketone
won't
react.
Note:
these
are
all
redox
reactions.
The
aldehyde
is
oxidised
to
a
carboxylic
acid
and
the
Cu(II)
ions
are
reduced
to
Cu(I)
for
Fehlings/Benedicts
and
in
Tollens,
the
Ag+
ion
is
reduced
to
Ag.
The
ketone
doesnt
react
as
it
cannot
be
oxidised
any
further.
Methyl
carbonyl:
Iodoform
reaction
(Edexcel)
Test
result:
a
methyl
ketone
is
reacted
with
iodine
in
NaOH
solution
to
give
pale
yellow
crystals
and
an
antiseptic
smell.
The
crystals
formed
are
CHI3
(iodoform).
Sometimes
they
ask
about
the
other
products,
so
here
is
an
equation
of
all
the
products:
CH3COCH3
+
3I2
+
4NaOH
CHI3
+
CH3COONa
+
3NaI
+
3H2O
Note:
you
can
also
do
this
reaction
with
a
secondary
alcohol.
The
iodine
will
oxidise
the
alcohol
to
the
ketone
first
and
then
you
proceed
as
above.
Alcohol:
add
PCl5
(Edexcel
and
AQA)
to
identify
a
hydroxyl
group
Test
result:
misty
fumes
of
HCl
are
given
off
which
turn
damp
blue
litmus
paper
red.
ROH
+
PCl5
RCl
+
HCl(g)
+
POCl3
Note:
this
reaction
also
occurs
for
carboxylic
acids.
You
would
use
the
test
below
to
distinguish
between
an
alcohol
and
an
acid.
K2Cr2O7:
also
test
for
an
alcohol
as
dichromate
is
reduced
and
changes
colour
from
orange
to
green.
Test
result:
CO2
is
given
off,
which
of
course
turns
lime
water
milky.
RCOOH
+
NaHCO3
RCOONa
+
H2O
+
CO2
Acyl
Chloride
(AQA
and
Edexcel):
can
react
with
water
to
give
HCl,
which
can
be
detected
as
misty
fumes.
The
problem
with
this
test
is
that
it
can
be
difficult
to
distinguish
between
the
colours.
You
can
then
add
NH3
solution
to
confirm
the
identity.