Question

Give simple chemical tests to distinguish between the following pairs of compounds: 

(i) Phenol and Benzoic acid. 

(ii) Propan-1-ol and Propan-2-ol. 

Answer 1

(i) C₆H₅OH + NaHCO₃  No effervescence

C₆H₅COOH + NaHCO₃ → C₆H₅COONa + H₂O + CO₂ (effervescence )

(ii) CH₃-CH₂ –CH₂OH → No Turbidity

CH₃-CHOH–CH₃ → Turbidity produced with in five minutes 

Answer 2

1)FeCl3 test for benzoic acid gives violet colour and that for   phenol gives some other colour like yellow

2)for alcohols do the test of lucas reagent(Zn+HCl) .... it will show cloudy effect on secondary alc. without heating where as ....primary alcohols show cloudiness on heating only