Group No.

55
Chemistry Laboratory 204 D
Members:
1. Fronda, Amanda Kay Celine C.
2. Ismael, Sandra H.__________
3. Millamena, Nina Lexa L._____

Data Sheet Activity

Hydrocarbons: 5
Structure and Properties
Objectives:
1. To compare the reaction of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbon.
2. To identify saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons .

Data Interpretation:
Observations:

1. Ignition Test

benzene n-hexane cyclohexane kerosene gasoline

 Luminous  Luminous  Luminous  Luminous

flame flame flame flame
 Soot was  No soot  No soot  No soot
form

Benzene – when Benzene was ignited it produced a luminous flame and it formed
soot. It produced a luminous flame because of the presence of unburned carbon. It
also produced soot because there was an incomplete combustion. Incomplete
combustion (where there isn't enough oxygen present) can lead to the formation of
carbon or carbon monoxide.

As a simple way of thinking about it, the hydrogen in the hydrocarbon gets the
oxygen, and the carbon gets whatever is left over!

The presence of glowing carbon particles in a flame turns it yellow, and black carbon
is often visible in the smoke. Carbon monoxide is produced as a colourless poisonous
gas.

Chemical Reaction of Benzene: 2C6H6(aq) + 15O2(g) 12CO2(g) + 6H2O9(aq)

n –hexane, cyclohexane and gasoline – it produced luminous flame because it

is saturated. It did not produce soot because there was a complete combustion.
Complete combustion occurs when there’s (given sufficient oxygen) of any
hydrocarbon produces carbon dioxide and water.
Chemistry Laboratory 101: General and Inorganic Chemistry 2
Laboratory Manual

Chemical reaction of n-hexane: 2C6H14(aq) + 13O2(g) ----> 6CO2(g)  + 14H2O(aq)

Chemical reaction of cyclohexane: C6H12(aq) + 9O2(g)  6CO2(g)+ 6H2O(aq)
Chemical reaction of gasoline: 2C8H18(aq) +25O2(g)  18H2O(aq) + 16CO2(g) 

2. Reaction with Concentrated Sulfuric Acid

benzene n-hexane cyclohexane kerosene gasoline

 Two  Two  Two  Two

phases phases phases phases

Benzene, n-hexane, cyclohexane and gasoline formed two phases because they are
immiscible with sulfuric acid. Saturated hydrocarbons don’t react with strong acids
and oxidizing agents and they cannot accept any halogens from acids.

3. Baeyer’s Test for Unsaturation

Color of standard solution: __Purple_____

benzene n-hexane cyclohexane kerosene gasoline

Purple Purple Purple Brown

Benzene, n-hexane, and cyclohexane which are colorless turned into purple when
permanganate was added. The statement “Like dissolves like” can be used as a basis
to be able to account for the solubility of each. On the other hand, gasoline turned
into brown because gasoline is unsaturated and it can still accept halogens from
Potassium permanganate.

Potassium permanganate does not react with alkanes because they are saturated
(single bonds which are all taken). When it is added to alkanes the purple color does
not change. However, when it is added to an alkene, the purple color slowly
disappears and a brown MnO2 precipitate forms.

Benzene: C6H6(aq) + KMnO4(aq) 

n-hexane: C6H14(aq) + KMnO4(aq)  KMnO4(aq) + C6H12 + H2
cyclohexane: C6H12(aq) + KMnO4(aq) 
gasoline: C8H18(aq) + KMnO4(aq) 

Natural Sciences Department, College of Science and Information Technology, Ateneo de Zamboanga
University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.
Chemistry Laboratory 101: General and Inorganic Chemistry 3
Laboratory Manual

4. Bromine in Carbon Tetrachloride Test

Color of standard solution: ____Colorless_____________________________

benzene n-hexane cyclohexane kerosene gasoline

Colorless Colorless Colorless Orange

Benzene, n-hexane, cyclohexane and gasoline formed two layers when bromine was
added because they are immiscible with each other. Also, they remained colorless
because bromine which is the standard solution is colorless except for gasoline which
remained orange.

Benzene:C6H6(aq) + Br2  C6H5Br(aq) + HBr(aq)

n-hexane: C6H14(aq) + Br2  C6H13Br(aq) + HBr(aq)
cyclohexane: C6H12(aq) + Br2  C6H11Br(aq) + HBr(aq)
gasoline: C8H18(aq) + Br2  C8H17Br(aq) + HBr(aq)

5. Test for Aromatic Hydrocarbons

benzene chloroform naphthalene anthracene

Yellow White Light Yellow Yellow

Benzene, Naphthalene and Anthracene turned yellow when it was placed together with
anhydrous AlCl3 and chloroform because they are produced by the triarylmethyl cation.
Treatment of an aromatic hydrocarbon with chloroform (CHCl3) and aluminum chloride
will produce highly colored triarylcarbonium ion in solution.

The reaction of aromatic hydrocarbons with aluminum chloride and chloroform to

produce a brightly colored compound is known as the Friedel - Crafts reaction. Friedel –
Crafts alkylation and acylation reaction are special class of electrophilic aromatic
substitution (EAS) reaction in which the electrophile is a carbocation or acylium ion.
These reactions are highly useful in that they involve carbon-carbon bond formation and
allow alkyl and acyl groups to be substituted onto aromatic rings.

Natural Sciences Department, College of Science and Information Technology, Ateneo de Zamboanga
University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.
Chemistry Laboratory 101: General and Inorganic Chemistry 4
Laboratory Manual

QUESTIONS

1. How can methane, ethylene and acetylene be prepared in the laboratory? Write
the chemical reactions involved in such preparations.

 Methane: In the lab methane is prepared using the following chemical

reaction.

Sodium acetate is the sodium salt of acetic acid. Sodium hydroxide

(NaOH) is obtained from soda lime which is a combination of NaOH
+CaO. Only the NaOH component of the soda lime reacts in the
reaction.

A mixture of sodium acetate and soda lime are taken in a glass tube and
heated. Methane gas is evolved which is collected by downward
displacement of water. The downward displacement method makes other
soluble gases or salts evaporating from the tube to be absorbed. Also it
must be remembered that methane is insoluble in water, hence the
downward displacement technique can be usefully employed.

 Ethylene: C2H4Br2 + Zn  ZnBr2 + C2H4

The reaction is most easily carried out in a 50-cc. Erlenmeyer
flask equipped with a gas-delivery tube. The following amounts of
reactants are sufficient to prepare about 250 cc. of ethylene: one cc. of
ethylene bromide (2.18 g.), 1.5 g. of Zu dust (excess), and five cc. of
alcohol. After the reactants are mixed there is an induction period,
sometimes as long as three minutes, before the reaction starts. The
induction period can be considerably reduced by warming the mixture to
about 60°C. Once the reaction begins it proceeds smoothly without
further heating or attention and a t such a rate t h a t the ethylene is
easily collected over water in test tubes. The middle fraction of the
ethylene so prepared is better than 95 per cent pure.
Ethylene can be used to demonstrate the usual properties of
olefins. For example, i t rapidly decolorizes a one per cent aqueous
solution of potassium pe rmane - nate as well as a one per cent
solution of bromine in either CC14 or water. A simple instructive
experiment is to invert one test tube of ethylene in a beaker of water
and a second in a beaker of bromine water. The gas slowly reacts with
the bromine to form liquid products, thus permitting the water to rise in
the test tube. By agitating the test tube the absorption can be completed
in about ten minutes. The tube of ethylene inverted in the beaker of
water shows no change.
In general, the laboratory preparation of large quantities of
ethylene is more economically camed out by the standard method of
alcohol dehydration. When only small quantities are required, the

Natural Sciences Department, College of Science and Information Technology, Ateneo de Zamboanga
University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.
Chemistry Laboratory 101: General and Inorganic Chemistry 5
Laboratory Manual

simplicity of the preparation from ethylene bromide gives this method

preference.
 Acetylene: In the lab ethyne is prepared by the action of water on
calcium carbide. The chemical equation is:

Water is slowly dropped on small pieces of calcium carbide kept in a

conical flask. Calcium carbide reacts with water to give off ethyne gas (or
acetylene gas). The gas is collected by downward displacement of water
as it is insoluble in water.

2. What type of reaction is exhibited by alkenes? Why?

 The type of reaction that is exhibited by alkenes is addition reaction.

Addition reaction is a chemical reaction in which the atoms of an element
or compound react with a double bond or triple bond in an organic
compound by opening up one of the bonds and becoming attached to it.
They exhibit such reaction because the second bond is more vulnerable
to attack by suitable reagents, even under fairly mild conditions. Thus,
the reaction of this second bond tend to be addition reactions, where the
unsaturated carbon atoms become saturated.

3. Explain the reaction of benzene with anhydrous AlCl3 and chloroform.

 Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene

What is alkylation?

Alkylation means substituting an alkyl group into something - into a

benzene ring. A hydrogen on the ring is replaced by a group like methyl
or ethyl and so on.

The facts

Benzene reacts at room temperature with a chloroalkane (for example,

chloromethane or chloroethane) in the presence of aluminium chloride as
a catalyst.

Natural Sciences Department, College of Science and Information Technology, Ateneo de Zamboanga
University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.
Chemistry Laboratory 101: General and Inorganic Chemistry 6
Laboratory Manual

Aromatic compound such as benzene undergo a substitution reaction

wherein more saturated hydrocarbons are resembled than unsaturated
hydrocarbons.

4. Account for the reactivity of gasoline.

 Gasoline is flammable and ignites easily with flame. Gasoline contains

long chains of carbon. Hydrocarbon contains high amount of energy in
their bonds and releases oxygen which demonstrates exothermic
reaction.

5. Hydrocarbons comprise a majority of fossil fuels. What are the environmental

implications of this activity?

 A hydrocarbon is a natural compound that contains hydrogen and carbon.

Hydrocarbons are classified as organic and can have single (saturated),
double or triple (unsaturated) bonds between the carbon atoms. Most
hydrocarbons occur naturally in crude oil. Crude oil is the decomposed
organic matter formed by millions of years of heat and pressure under
the earth's crust. The hydrocarbons found in oil are typically called fossil
fuels and are the primary source of the world's energy.

Conclusion:

The term “Hydrocarbon” means organic compounds which contain only carbon and
hydrogen. There are two main classes: Aliphatic and Aromatic hydrocarbon. Aliphatic
Hydrocarbons are divided into two which are saturated and unsaturated. Saturated
hydrocarbons include the alkanes and the cyclic aliphatic. They undergo addition
reaction. Saturated hydrocarbons are characterized by the presence of sigma bonds.
On the other hand, unsaturated hydrocarbons include alkenes and alkynes. They
undergo substitution reaction. Also, they exhibit carbon-carbon double bond for
alkenes and carbon-carbon triple bond for alkynes.

Natural Sciences Department, College of Science and Information Technology, Ateneo de Zamboanga
University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.
Chemistry Laboratory 101: General and Inorganic Chemistry 7
Laboratory Manual

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Natural Sciences Department, College of Science and Information Technology, Ateneo de Zamboanga
University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.