Question

Give simple chemical tests to distinguish between the following pairs of compounds. (i) Propanal and Propanone (ii) Acetophenone and Benzophenone (iii) Phenol and Benzoic acid (iv) Benzoic acid and Ethyl benzoate (v) Pentan-2-one and Pentan-3-one (vi) Benzaldehyde and Acetophenone (vii) Ethanal and Propanal

Answer 1

For (i) we will use Tollen's test or Fehling's test.
For (ii) we will use Iodoform test.
For (iii) we will use Ferric chloride test.
For (iv) we will use sodium bicarbonate test.
For (v) we will use Iodoform test.
For (vi) we will use Tollen's or Iodoform test.
For (vii) we will also use Iodoform test.