what should you see when 2-butanol is treated with NaI-I2?
if you pour ethylene glycol into water it mixes in all oroprtions. but if you bubble butane, a gas of comparable molar mass through water, it does not mix but just bubbles away. how do you explain these differences?
Ethylene glycol is more polar because it has two OH groups AND it is shorter hydrocarbon chain. Butanol is a longer chain and it is less polar.
thank you!
When 2-butanol is treated with NaI-I2, you should see the formation of an alkyl iodide, specifically 2-iodo butane.
To explain the differences observed when mixing ethylene glycol with water compared to bubbling butane through water, we need to consider the nature of the molecular interactions involved.
1. Ethylene glycol and water mixture: Ethylene glycol is a polar molecule with hydroxyl groups (-OH) located on each carbon atom. Water is also a polar molecule due to the presence of oxygen and hydrogen atoms with partial charges. The hydroxyl groups in ethylene glycol can form hydrogen bonds with water molecules, allowing for strong intermolecular attractions. As a result, ethylene glycol mixes thoroughly with water in all proportions.
2. Bubbling butane through water: Butane is a nonpolar molecule composed of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Water, being a polar solvent, does not establish strong intermolecular interactions with nonpolar substances like butane. Therefore, when butane is bubbled through water, there are no significant attractions between the water molecules and the nonpolar butane molecules. As a result, the butane remains as discrete bubbles and does not mix with water.
In summary, the differences in the mixing behavior of ethylene glycol and butane with water arise from the polar nature of ethylene glycol, allowing for hydrogen bonding with water, and the nonpolar nature of butane, leading to weak or negligible interactions with water.