organic chemistry Lab

IDENTIFICATION OF ALCOHOLS
Alcohols are organic compounds that may be considered as derivatives of water
in which one of the hydrogen atoms of water molecule (H-O-H) has been replaced
by an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. Therefore, properties of alcohols may be
related to properties of both water and hydrocarbons. The alkyl group could be
primary, secondary, or tertiary, and may be open chain or cyclic. Accordingly,
alcohols may be defined as organic compounds that contain hydroxyl groups
attached to alkyl, substituted alkyl, or cyclic alkyl group.
Physical properties
? Alcohols are colourless liquids with a special faint odour. Benzyl alcohol and
cyclohexanol have characteristic odours.
? Aliphatic alcohols burn with blue flame (without smoke) while aromatic
alcohols burn with yellow smoky flame.
? Boiling points of alcohols are considerably high (being associated liquids); they
increase as the molecular weight (number of carbons) increases.
? Alcohols are miscible with water except benzyl alcohol, cyclohexanol, and
sec-butanol (which is very slightly soluble in water.