Experiment No.

PROPERTIES THAT DISTINGUISH ORGANIC FROM

INORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Inorganic compounds are ionic compounds (water being the exception). This ionic
quality makes them relatively nonvolatile solids with a disposition toward water
solubility. There are exceptions, of course, but as a reasonable first assumption, any
water-soluble, high-melting compound that will neither char nor ignite and burn
completely away is probably both ionic and inorganic.
Organic compounds, by contrast, characteristically char or burn. If they contain
no metal atoms, they ignite completely, leaving no residue. Most of them are insoluble in
water but dissolve readily in organic solvents such as dichloromethane. Organic
compounds tend to boil or melt easily, and they have odors.

Procedure:

I. Flammability Test
1. Place 2.0 to 3.0 drops of ethanol in an evaporating dish.
2. Ignite the ethanol with lighted matchstick.
3. Repeat the test, using NaCl solution instead of ethanol.

II. Charring
1. Place a pinch of sucrose in a tin bottle cap.
2. Heat over a Bunsen flame for 2-3 minutes.
3. Repeat the test, using a pinch of KCl instead of sucrose.

III. Solubility Tests

1. Into 3 separate test tubes, place 2.0 ml each of distilled water. To the first
test tube add a pinch of benzoic acid, to the second test tube add a pinch of
naphthalene and to the third test tube add NaCl.
Shake vigorously.
2. Repeat the procedure, using petroleum ether instead of water.

IV. Electrical Conductivity

1. Into 4 separate 50 ml beakers, transfer 20.0 ml each of sucrose solution,
glycerol, NaCl solution and ethanol, respectively.
2. Using a conductivity apparatus, determine the electrical conductivity of
each solution by dipping the electrodes into the solutions.

Questions for Discussion:

1.)
a. What happens to the ethanol? NaCl solution?
b. Which substance is flammable?
c. What kind of flame was produced?
d. What type of compound is the flammable substance?
2.)
a. Describe the substance left after heating the sucrose and KCl.
b. Compare the results obtained.
3.)
a. Which substance is soluble to water?
b. Which substance is soluble to petroleum ether?
c. What type of compound is soluble to petroleum ether?
d. What type of compound is soluble in water?

4.)
a. Which substance is a strong electrolyte?
b. Which substance is a weak electrolyte?
c. Which substance is a non-electrolyte?
d. What type of compound is the non-electrolyte substance?
 EXPERIMENT NO. 2
METHODS OF ORGANIC PURIFICATION

Experiment II – A
SUBLIMATION
Procedure:
Place about two (2) grams of mixture of powdered naphthalene and sodium sulfate in
an evaporating dish. Cover the dish with a filter paper on a glass funnel. Heat very slowly
with a small amount of the sublimate in hot water and add a few drops of barium chloride
solution.

What does the result indicate?

Has the purification of the organic compound been attained?

Experiment II – B
DECOLORIZATION

Procedure:
Dissolve 4 grams of brown sugar in 30 mL of water. Filter and save one-half of the
filtrate for comparison. To the one-half, add a tiny pinch of black and gently boil the
mixture for 20-30 minutes. Filter repeatedly if necessary and compare the color of the
filtrate with that of the original.
Experiment II – C
CRYSTALLIZATION

Procedure:
A. Choice of Solvent for Crystallization
1. Prepare six clean and dry test tubes.
2. Place a small amount of oxalic acid, about the size of a corn grain to the first three
test tubes. To the second three test tubes, place a small amount or urea.
3. Add 1mL of water to test tubes 1 and 4; one mL of ethyl alcohol to test tubes 2
and 5; and one mL of benzene to test tubes 3 and 6. Shake and warm in a water
bath.
4. If undissolved solids still remain, add another mL of the solvent and warm. Shake
test tubes. Cool the contents and set aside.
5. Observe. If no crystal appears in any test tubes, scratch the wall of the test tubes
in contact with the solution.

Which solvent do you observe will be the most suitable for the crystallization of oxalic
acid? and or urea?

B. Purification of Impure Organic Compound

1. Place 2 grams of crude oxalic acid in a test tube containing 5 mL of water. Boil
this for 2 minutes; filter while hot and cool in ice water contained in a beaker.
When crystals formed, filter again then dry the crystals. Submit the dry crystals to
your Instructor.
 2. Perform the same procedure above using urea instead of oxalic acid and ethyl
alcohol as the solvent.

Experiment II-D
DISTILLATION

Procedure:
Prepare a simple distillation set-up. Have your instructor approve your apparatus set-
up before any attempt to use it. Pour 50 mL of potassium permanganate solution and 25
mL of acetone in a distilling flask. Add 2 small boiling stones. Heat the flask slowly and
collect the distillate at 50°C. Submit the distillate to your instructor after writing down
your observation.

Experiment I – E
DIALYSIS

Procedure:
Make a starch solution by stirring 2 grams of starch with 20 mL of warm water. Mix
the starch with 10 mL of 10% NaCl solution. Through a funnel, transfer the mixture into
the dialyzer. The dialyzer is made by typing a piece of colorless cellophane around the
cork with a hole through which glass funnel has been inserted (Use rubber band for
tying.). Suspend the dialyzing bag in a beaker of distilled water. Make sure that the liquid
levels within and outside the bag should be the same. Hold the dialyzer in place by means
of a clay triangle mounted on a tripod or an iron ring. Set aside for 20-30 minutes then
test the dialyzate (liquid in the beaker) for starch and for NaCl.

For starch: Add a few drops of iodine solution to 3 mL of dialyzate in watch glass
For NaCl: Add a few drops of AgNO3 solution to 3 mL of dialyzate

Experiment II- F
EXTRACTION

Procedure:
Dissolve one spatulaful of a mixture containing benzoic acid and sodium chloride in
100 mL of water. Heat to facilitate the dissolution. Let it cool then pour into a separator
funnel. Add 5 mL of chloroform. Stopper and shake. Allow to stand until the layers
separate. Draw off the chloroform layer into an evaporating dish. Repeat the extraction
with another 5 mL of chloroform. Combine the chloroform extracts and evaporate slowly
on a water bath. Compare the residue with the original mixture of benzoic acid and
sodium chloride. (CAUTION: AVOID INHALING THE CHLOROFORM.)

Experiment I – G
CHROMATOGRAPHY

Procedure:
A. Separate of Leaves Extract
Cut a handful of San Francisco leaves into small pieces with scissors. Grind the
pieces in a mortar with enough ethyl alcohol to produce 3-5 mL of the liquid. Decant the
extract into an evaporating dish. The solution must be as concentrated as possible.
Using a micropipette (or capillary tube), place a drop of extract on four corners of
filter paper which has been placed on top of a small beaker. Allow the drops to dry then
repeat the addition of drops until 4-5 drops have been added. Be sure to dry between
drops.
Using another clean micropipette, add toluene, acetone, ethyl alcohol, and mixture of
ethyl alcohol and acetone to the first, second, third and fourth spot respectively. Add each
solvent drop but be sure to dry after each drop by blowing until a total of 15 drops have
been added.
Place a small amount of the extract in an evaporating dish. Dip in one end of a whole
piece of white chalk and leave it in an upright position for a few minutes. Cut the chalk
into pieces.

B. Paper Strip Chromatography

Cut a strip 22 cm long of Whatman No.1 filter paper 2 cm wide at one end and
tapering to 1 cm at the other end. Draw a pencil line 2 cm from and parallel to the narrow
by end of the strip.
Apply a spot of a dye (to be prepared by your instructor) to the paper at the center of
the pencil line by means of capillary tip. The spot should be 3-5 mm in diameter. Dry the
spot.
Prepare a mixture of 3 mL of water and ethyl alcohol in hard glass tube. From the slit
of the cork, suspend each strip in each tube. Care must be taken so that the strip will not
touch the walls of the tube. Adjust the length of the paper such that when inserted in the
test tube, the narrow end is immersed in the solution to a depth of one cm leaving a space
between surface of the solvent and dye spot. Stopper firmly and set the test tube aside
undisturbed until a separation of mixture occurs or until the solvent is about 5mm from
the broad end of the paper or cork. Remove the paper and observe.
 EXPERIMENT NO. 3
PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF HYDROCARBONS

III.A. Preparation and Properties of Methane

Procedure 1:
Equip a 6-inch Pyrex test tube with a tightly fitted one-hole cork or rubber
stopper. Fit a delivery tube into the cork or stopper so that the evolved gas can be
collected by water displacement. Put 3 g of Zn dust, 5 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol, 3
ml of chloroform, and 1 ml of CuSO4 solution in the test tube. Shake. Insert the
stopper with the delivery tube. If the reaction is very fast, cool by immersing the
tube in cold water. After the air has been displaced from the apparatus, collect
methane gas by water displacement. Collect the gas in two test tubes.

Alternate procedure:

Grind thoroughly in a mortar 4 grams of anhydrous sodium acetate and 10

grams of soda lime (anhydrous barium hydroxide may be used instead of soda
lime). Transfer the mixture to a dry, hard glass test tube (Pyrex). Cover with a

one-holed rubber stopper with an exit tube projecting at least inch beyond the

stopper. Be sure there is an air space between the material in the tube and the top
of the tube. Heat the tube gently, holding the burner in the hand. And keep the
flame moving. Allow a sufficient volume to escape from the apparatus, and then
collect two test tubes of the gas by water displacement. Since methane is lighter
than air, the best test tubes should be tightly stoppered until used. CAUTION:
remove the delivery tube from the water trough before stopping the heating.

Properties of Methane:
1. Odor & Color

Describe the odor and color of methane gas.

2. Flammability and Products of Combustion

Ignite a test tube of methane and after burning, add immediately

clear lime water. Shake and observe the color of the precipitate. To what is
it due? Write the chemical equations involved.

Equations:
1.
2.

3. Bromine Test
 To another test tube of methane add 1-2 drops of bromine water
(bromide in carbon tetrachloride solution). Cover and shake until the color
just disappears. Immediately blow across the mouth of the test tube, and
then hold the piece of moistened blue litmus paper to the fumes that
evolved. (Do not allow the litmus paper to touch the sides of the test tube.)
Write down your observation. What gas was evolved? Write the chemical
equation involved.
Equation:

Observations:

4. Von Baeyer’s Test

To another test tube of methane add 3 ml of dilute (pink color)

potassium permanganate solution. Cover and shake taking care not to allow
the mixture to come in contact with cork. Observe any change in color of the
permanganate solution. (Note: if there is any change in color it is due to the
impurities distilled over with methane.)
Observation:
What is the test for?

III.B. Preparation and Properties of Ethylene

A. Preparation

Pour 15 ml of ethyl alcohol into a distilling flask and add gradually

with constant shaking under running water 50 ml of concentrated sulfuric
acid. Add few boiling stones to prevent “bumping”. Arrange the apparatus.
Heat the flask to 160-175 until a steady flow of the gas is
obtained. Regulate the temperature to prevent a violent reaction. When
there is a steady flow of the gas, collect four test tubes of it and collect
another test tube only to 1/12 of its capacity. Remove the delivery tube
from the water then stop heating the flask.
Caution: Concentrated sulfuric acid is very corrosive; handle with care!
Equation for the preparation:

B. Properties of Ethene

1. Odor and Color

Describe the odor and color of the ethane gas.

2. Flammability and Products of Combustion

Ignite the test tube of ethylene gas. Hold a dry test tube over the
burning gas and observe the moisture formed. Immediately add clear lime
water and note the color of the precipitate formed. To what it is due?
 Observation/s:

Equations:
1.

3. Bromine Test

To another test tube of ethene, add 1-2 drops of bromine water.

Cover and shake. Hold the piece of moistened blue litmus paper over the
tube.

Observation/s:

Equation:

4. Von Baeyer’s Test

Add 3 ml of dilute potassium permanganate solution to a test tube

of ethylene. Cover and shake. (Do not allow the mixture to touch the
cork.) Observe the change in color of the permanganate solution and the
color of the precipitated formed if any.

Observation/s:

Equation:

III. C. Preparation and Properties of Acetylene

Preparation
Place about 10 grams of solid calcium carbide into clean and dry
distilling flask. Insert the stem of a separatory funnel into a cork that fits the
mouth of the distilling flask. Arrange the apparatus. Adjust the separatory funnel
such that its stem is near the calcium carbide in the flask. Half-filled the
separatory funnel with water. Attached the rubber tubing to the stem of flask to
serve as delivery tube. Collect four test tubes of acetylene gas by allowing the
water to flow gradually from the separatory funnel. Fill a fifth test but only to
1/15 of its capacity.
CAUTION: KEEP FLAMES AWAY FROM THE GAS GENERATOR! DO NOT
LET THE GAS ACCUMULATE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE SINCE IT FORMS
AN EXCLUSIVE MIXTURE WITH AIR.

Properties of Acetylene
 1. Odor and Color

Describe the odor and color of ethyne gas.

2. Flammability and Products of Combustion

Ignite the test tube of acetylene gas then immediately add 2 ml of

clear lime water. Write down your observations.

Observation/s:

Equations:

1.
2.

3. Bromine Test

Add 1-2 drops of bromine water to a test tube of acetylene. Cover and
shake. Expose a piece of moistened litmus paper over the mouth of the
test tube.
Observations:
Equations:

4. Von Baeyer’s Test

Add 3 ml of dilute permanganate solution to a test tube of acetylene.

Stopper and shake. Note any change in color.
Observation/s:
Equations:

5. Formation of Silver Acetylide

Add 5 ml of silver nitrate (ammoniacal) to a test tube of acetylene gas.

Cover and shake. Observe the color of the precipitate and dry between
sheets of filter paper. Place a small portion of the precipitate on the
asbestos pad of wire gauze and ignite. Note what is produced on ignition.

Observation/s:

Equations: