Question

Primary ,secondary ,and tertiary alcohols are distinguished by

Answer 1

You can distinguish Primary, secondary or tertiary alcohols using:-

• Lucas Test- Add ZnCl2 and conc.HCl to the alcohol and see how much time it takes to give white turbidity. Primary alcohols take approx. 1/2 an hr, secondary take couple of minutes and tertiary give it almost immediately.
• Victor Meyer Test- First add HI in the presence of red phosphorus to give iodoalkane. Then treat it with nitrous acid or NaNo2 wih conc. HCl to give nitroalkane. Then make the soln. alkaline. Primary alc. give red color, secondary give blue color while tertiary alcohols give almost no color.