A six-carbon organic compound containing oxygen is suspected of being either a secondary alcohol or a ketone. which chemical or physical test would best distinguish between these two possibilities?

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Heidi Bishop

Chemistry

23 April, 12:33

A six-carbon organic compound containing oxygen is suspected of being either a secondary alcohol or a ketone. which chemical or physical test would best distinguish between these two possibilities?

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Yosef Ballard · Answer 1

Following are the possible isomers of secondary alcohol and ketones for six carbon molecules. In order to distinguish between sec. alcohol and ketone we can simply treat the unknown compound with acidified Potassium Dichromate (VI) in the presence of acid. If with treatment with unknown compound the colour of K2Cr2O7 (potassium dichromate VI) changes from orange to green then it is confirmed that the unknown compound is sec. alcohol, or if no change in colour is detected then ketone is confirmed. This is because ketone can not be further oxidized while, sec. alcohol can be oxidized to ketones as shown below,