Question

convert diethyl ether to n-butane

Answer 1

Solution: To convert diethyl ether to n-butane, we follow two steps which are given as:

Step 1: Conversion of diethyl ether to 2 moles of bromoethane using hydrobromic acid (HBr) in presence of heat.

Step 2: Combining 2 moles of bromoethane to form n-butane by Wurtz reaction (using sodium metal).

Above steps are shown in the image attached below.