Reactions of Alcohols

hydrogen bond (wiązanie wodorowe)

toxic (toksyczny)

elimination of water (eliminacja wody)

sodium (sód)

alcoholate (alkoholan)

• Alcohols undergo combustion with O2 to produce CO2 and H2O.

2CH₃OH + 3O₂ 2CO₂ + 4H2O + Heat

• Dehydration removes H- and -OH from adjacent carbon atoms by heating with an acid catalyst.

H OH

| | H+, heat

H—C—C—H H—C=C—H + H2O

| | | |

H H H H

alcohol alkene

Zaitsev's rule - dehydration of alcohol normally forms the alkene with the more highly substituted (or more highly branched) double bond. B/c of stability

EASE OF DEHYDRATION

1o alcohols 2o alcohols 3o alcohols

Oxidation of Alcohols

1°alcohols are oxidized to aldehydes and 2° alcohols are oxidized to ketones

Formation of Alkoxide Ions

React methanol and ethanol with sodium metal (redox reaction).

• Esterification

The esterification process produces esters through a condensation reaction. Condensation reactions have water as one of the products. The reactants for esters are an alcohol and an acid (either an organic or an inorganic acid). A catalyst, such as concentrated acid

The esters are named as salts of the acids prefaced with name of the alcohol. Examples are shown in the chart.

Alcohol	Acid	Ester	Odor
methyl	acetic	methyl acetate	sweet
ethyl	acetic	ethyl acetate	fruity
isoamyl	acetic	isoamyl acetate	banana
isoamyl	butyric	isoamyl butyrate	pear