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Topic: Testing of alcohols  (Read 2888 times)

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Offline hobobot

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Testing of alcohols
« on: April 05, 2010, 07:51:21 PM »
So, my Ochem teacher wants us to find a way to test for the presence of methanol in ethanol. He says that the distilling industry does this all the time so they can make sure their spirits are safe to drink. However, nobody in the class has any idea how to do it because they can't be separated by distillation.

I was thinking of oxidizing them? Would permanganate turn methanol into CO2? or into formic acid?

Sorry for all the questions, I really need to get full credit for this quiz.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: I don't have access to an NMR or other fancy equipment.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2010, 08:06:35 PM by hobobot »

Offline nj_bartel

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Re: Testing of alcohols
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2010, 09:01:51 PM »
Oxidation to CO2 sounds like a good route to go to me.

Offline hobobot

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Re: Testing of alcohols
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2010, 09:16:46 PM »
Sounds good, I just wasn't sure if KMnO4 would take it all the way to CO2.
Thank you!

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