Reactions of Alkenes and Alcohols - Worked Example

Let's check out this question.

The product that we want is 1-chloropropane.

The functional groups mentioned in the options are propene and propan-1-ol.

Therefore we have to be familiar with the reactions of alkenes and alcohols to answer this question.

Option A - chlorine gas with propene in the dark

This is an electrophilic addition of propene to form 1,2-dichloropropane, which is not the product we want.

Option B - propan-1-ol with dilute NaCl(aq)

There is no reaction between alcohol and dilute NaCl.

Option C - propan-1-ol with PCl₅

This is a nucleophilic substitution of propan-1-ol to form 1-chloropropane.

Hence option C is our answer to this question.

This reaction requires anhydrous PCl₅ at room temperature.

We can also use anhydrous SOCl₂ at room temperature for the same conversion.

Option D - propene with dilute HCl(aq)

There is no reaction between alkene and dilute HCl.

Topic: Alcohol, Organic Chemistry, A Level Chemistry, Singapore

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