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Is conc. hydrochloric acid strong for dehydrating alcohol to ether?

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lukas.stib:
Hi chemists,

I synthesized n-chloropropane from conc. 35 - 37% hydrochloric acid, anhydrous ZnCl2 and n-propanol by refluxed for 4 hours, and I noticed that apart from the sweet smell of n-chloropropane I smelled a very smell very similar to di-n-propyl ether. Is it possible that hydrochloric acid is strong enough to dehydrate propanol to reflux for a given ether? (I always thought that only sulfuric acid was strong enough to dehydrate primary alcohols to ethers). If so, I expect that when I produce other primary chloroalkanes by this process, the corresponding ether will also be formed, which will be removed by fractional distillation of the chloroalkane.

Thank you, Lukáš S.

rolnor:
I think you can get some ether this way. You should not sniff alkylhalides, they can give cancer.

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