LAB #: 6

DATE: October 17, 2022

TITLE:

OBJECTIVE: To use chemical tests to determine the functional group, the three unknown

samples contain.

MATERIALS:
CHEMICALS:

1. Test tubes 1.     Samples A,B and C

2. Graduated cylinder 2.     Distilled water
3. Test droppers 3.     Fehling’s solution A and Fehling’s
4. Test tube rack B solution
5. Bunsen Burner 4.     Sodium Hydrogen carbonate/

Sodium bicarbonate 

5.     Potassium permanganate – 2M

(KMnO 4 )

6.     Sulfuric Acid – 2M (H 2 SO 4 )

PROCEDURES:
Test for Alkenes 

Preparation of acidified potassium permanganate 

1.     Two mL of 0.01 M aqueous potassium permanganate solution was added to a test

tube and one mL of dilute 2 M sulfuric acid was then added. 

2.     One mL of the acidified potassium permanganate solution was added after to react

with one mL of the unknown.

3.   If the purple colour of acidic potassium permanganate is changed to colourless then

an alkene is present.

Test for aldehydes

Fehling’s test:

1. The Fehling’s solution was prepared by mixing two mL of Fehling’s A with two mL

of Fehling’s B solution.

2. Two mL of the given organic compound was added to a clean test tube.

3. Two mL Fehling’s solution was added to it and the solution was heated gently.

4. A brick-red precipitate appeared, the presence of aldehyde was confirmed.

Test for carboxylic acids

Sodium Bicarbonate Test:

1. A saturated solution of sodium bicarbonate was prepared by dissolving one gram of

sodium bicarbonate in one ml of water.

2. One mL of the given organic compound was added to the saturated solution of sodium

bicarbonate solution.

3. The solution was shaken well. If there is an evolution of brisk effervescence then it

indicates the presence of carboxylic acid.  

Iodoform Test

1. Four drops of the unknown was placed into a test tube

2. Five tenths (0.5) mL of distilled water was added to the test tube.

3. Zero point two five (0.25) six M NaOH and zero point two five (0.25) mL of water was

then added.

4. Five drops of KI solution was added.

3

5. Observations were noted at the beginning and after 10 minutes.

(*Yellow cloudy bottom layer = POSITIVE TEST)

(*Anything else is negative. White cloudy, clear etc. is negative.)

Test with Chromic Acid:

 1. One mL of the given organic compound was placed in a clean test tube.

2. One ml of chromic acid reagent was added to the given organic compound.

3. Observations were recorded.

RESULTS:

Observations

Test A B C Inference

Acidified potassium Purple to Purple to Remained

permanganate colourless brown purple

Fehling’s solution Brick red

precipitate
formed

Sodium bicarbonate No reaction

occurred

Iodoform test

Chromic acid Solution

changed to a
dark green

TABLE SHOWING THE RESULT OF UNKNOWN COMPOUNDS REACTING WITH

DIFFERENT TESTS

DISCUSSION:
The presence of the hydrogen atom in the aldehyde makes aldehydes very easy to oxidize
(they are strong reducing agents).Fehling’s solution is a complex compound of Cu2+. When
the aldehyde compound is treated with Fehling’s solution Cu2+ is reduced to Cu+ and the
aldehyde is reduced to acids. During the reaction, a red precipitate is formed.

Carboxylic acids have a tendency to donate protons and act as acids. It is this property which
is helpful in the identification of a -COOH group.When carboxylic acid reacts with sodium
bicarbonate solution carbon dioxide is evolved with a brisk effervescence along with sodium
acetate formed. RCOOH + NaHCO → RCOONa + H O + CO ↑ (brisk effervescence). 
3 2 2

Acidified potassium permanganate solution can be used to differentiate between alkanes and
alkenes. Alkenes will react with potassium permanganate solution in the presence of sulfuric
acid while alkanes will not. During the reaction with an alkene the permanganate ions
(MnO )  are reduced to manganese (II) ions (Mn ), resulting in the purple solution becoming
4
2+

colourless, while the alkene is oxidized to a diol.

Iodoform test is used to check the presence of carbonyl compounds with the structure R-CO-
CH or alcohols with the structure R-CH(OH)-CH in a given unknown substance. The
3 3

reaction of iodine, a base and a methyl ketone gives a yellow precipitate along with an
“antiseptic” smell

Aldehydes react with chromic acid and gives a green to blue precipitate. Ketones do not react
with chromic acid. Some of the primary and secondary alcohols also give this test but they do
not give the dinitrophenylhydrazine test.
The chemical reaction is given below.
R-CHO + 2CrO3 + 3H2SO4 → 3R-C(O)-OH + 3H2O + Cr2(SO4)3(green colour)
Chromic acid Shows positive test for 1 and 2 alcohols and aldehydes. Aldehydes and
o o

primary alcohols are oxidized to carboxylic acids while the Cr ion in the chromic acid is
+6

reduced to Cr .Secondary alcohols are oxidized to ketones while the Cr ion in the chromic
+3 +6

acid is reduced to Cr . 
+3

Another method that can be used to identify these unknown samples is infrared spectroscopy.
Infrared spectroscopy is the study of the interaction of infrared light with matter. The
fundamental measurement obtained in infrared spectroscopy is an infrared spectrum, which is
a plot of measured infrared intensity versus wavelength (or frequency) of light. Infrared (IR)
spectroscopy is one of the most common and widely used spectroscopic techniques employed
mainly by inorganic and organic chemists due to its usefulness in determining structures of
compounds and identifying them. Chemical compounds have different chemical properties
due to the presence of different functional groups. Infrared light causes molecular vibrations.
Certain bonds will absorb at specific wavelengths, which will give us information on the
strength of the bond and which functional groups are present. Upon viewing an infrared
spectrum we can deduce that this molecule contains at least two types of bonds: C-H and
C=O. The x-axis is in wavenumbers. A wavenumber is defined as the reciprocal of
wavelength. You may recall that energy is equal to Planck’s constant times the speed of light
(c), divided by the wavelength. Substituting for wavelength, we can also obtain E = hc *
wavenumber. A wavenumber is really just the number of cycles of a wave in 1 cm. If one
wanted to convert from wavenumbers to wavelength (in this case microns), the equation is
simply wavenumbers = 10,000/microns. The y-axis is the percent transmittance (which is the
opposite of absorbance (1/A)). When reporting peaks in an infrared spectrum, we use a
qualitative approach, where s is an intense peak, m is a moderately sized peak, and w is a
weak peak. Vibrating bonds in functional groups absorb energy at a frequency that
corresponds to the vibrational frequency of the bond. In organic chemistry, this corresponds
to frequencies of 15 to 120 THz. These frequencies are expressed as wavenumbers:
Wavenumber = frequency/speed of light = f/c. The wavenumbers range from 500 to 4000
cm⁻¹. If the frequency of the radiation matches the vibrational frequency, the bond will
absorb the radiation. The amplitude of the vibration will increase. Within a narrow range,
each type of bond vibrates at a characteristic wavenumber. This makes infrared spectroscopy
useful for identifying functional groups in a molecule.

SOURCE OF ERROR:

LIMITATION:
CONCLUSION: Chemical tests were used to determine the functional group, the three

unknown samples contained. It was observed that sample A was an carboxylic acid. Sample

B was an aldehyde, Sample C was an alchol.