N-Butanol Synthesis Lab Report

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Experiment 2: n-Butyl Bromide from n-Butanol DIAZ, Pablo GAVINO, Andrea Mikaela MARASIGAN, Patricia Micaella Edward Santos October 30, 2014 Abstract Starting from n-butanol, the product n-butyl bromide was formed using sulfuric acid. The mechanism is an Sn2 reaction, which forms a concerted intermediate. The n-butanol, sodium bromide, and water mixture was put into reflux and then distilled. It was then extracted with water twice, and then extracted with sodium bicarbonate solution. Anhydrous calcium chloride was then used then used to dry the product. Using Infrared Spectroscopy, the product was verified to be 72% n-butyl bromide. The experimenters suggest a longer reflux time so the reaction will be given more time to proceed. Introduction…show more content…
Alcohols are not capable of straightly undergoing nucleophillic substitution, which is why protonation happens first (n.a., 2004), this is will be explained further later on. That is the reason why sulfuric acid is needed in this reaction because the reaction cannot proceed with only sodium bromide and water. The reaction mechanism for this experiment would be SN2 (Second order Nucleophilic Substitution ). The first step would be the protonation of the alcohol to give oxonium ion via Lewis acid base reaction then displacement would take place in order to have a product which is n-butyl bromide. The leaving group would be the water while the nucleophile is bromide. Sulfuric acid is considered as dehydrating agent and an added source of…show more content…
This is to prevent evaporation. Also, a reflux is used in the experiment for 30 minutes. Reflux is used to heat up a mixture without losing volume. The experimenters were able to obtain the final product through a series or procedures and laboratory techniques. Different set-ups were used such as the time that the mixture was heated while attached to a condenser, the distillation of the mixture and finally putting the mixture in a separatory funnel to obtain the final distillate amount of 1-butanol (Addison Ault, 1998). The experimenters were able to obtain the final distilled amount, as mentioned earlier, of 1.3 mL 1-butylbromide. As proved by the Infrared Spectroscopy in figures 2 and 3, the main product synthesized was n-butyl bromide. There were also other products seen in the IR spectroscopy, which the researchers admit to having human error. There were other products formed probably because it is believed that the experimenters did not follow certain procedures in a certain or specific manner; however, the researchers are aware that human error can be avoided but definitely not
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