[anna]

hey, it's been a while but i'm stuck..

to convert propan-1-ol to hexane.
you can't use any other organic substances except for ethanoic acid and/or methanol.

also, could anyone post any hints for improving in conversions (provided that there are any)..i always get stuck in that part of my homework.

thanks again,
an

[FeLiXe]

Can you use inorganic substances?

If yes, then I can tell you.

It's an alkane synthesis. So you look up (or know) what synthesises there are: Kolbe and Wurtz. So you either oxidize it to the acid and make Kolbe synthesis. Or you make the halogen alkane out of it (with Phosphor-halides), add sodium and do the Wurtz synthesis.

[movies]

Another alternative would be the Corey-House reaction, which is similar to the Wurtz reaction but uses copper instead of sodium.

[Winga]

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=4220