CHY 32.

1
Activity No. 5
Qualitative Tests for Elements in Organic Compounds

THEORY GASAL

Organic compounds are once thought to be mystically originating only from living beings. Until
Friedrich Wohler’s synthesis of an organic compound urea, CO(NH₂)₂, and Eduard Buchner’s in vitro
alcohol fermentation, or an alcohol production without the use of live yeasts in the 1900’s, organic
compounds were finally regarded as any other compounds that can be manipulated in the laboratory and
obeys the existing chemical principles.
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen are the predominant elements constituting organic compounds.
Other elements like nitrogen, sulfur, fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine are also present. In rare cases,
the elements phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, mercury, and some other metals are also found.
Determination of these elements, however, proved to be challenging. The covalent bonds of these
elements in an organic compound inhibit their ionization in a solution; thereby preventing isolation for
further determination. Thus, it is necessary to convert them to ionizable species. In this way, the presence
of these elements can be qualitatively confirmed.
A common method of ionizing the covalently bonded elements in an organic compound is to break
up the organic molecule by heating it at high temperature (also called fusion) with metallic sodium or a
mixture of anhydrous potassium carbonate and powdered magnesium. The transformation of the
elements into ionizable inorganic substances or water-soluble salts through fusion with sodium is
represented by the following equation:

Organic Compound + Na  NaCN, Na2S, NaX, NaOH, etc.

(containing C,H,O,N,S,X)

The following are specific qualitative tests for the determination of the common elements in an organic
compound.

1. NITROGEN MALUBAY

a. Lassaigne’s Test

During fusion, nitrogen from the organic compound reacts with sodium to form sodium
cyanide. Sodium cyanide is converted to sodium ferrocyanide when treated with ferrous
sulfate. On further treatment with ferric chloride, a Prussian blue complex precipitate of
ferric ferrocyanide is formed. The reactions are shown below:

2NaCN + FeSO4 Fe(CN)2 + Na2SO4

Fe(CN)2 + 4NaCN Na4Fe(CN)6

3Na4Fe(CN)6 + 4FeCl3 Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3 + 12NaCl

Ferric ferrocyanide
(Prussian blue ppt.)

Note that Ferric ferrocyanide is the compound responsible for the result as it shows the
Prussian blue precipitate.

b. Soda Lime Test (Will Varentrop Method)

Compounds which contain amino nitrogen (nitrogen bonded to hydrogen aside from
carbon) liberate ammonia when heated with soda lime. The liberated ammonia is
detected with litmus paper.

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2. SULFUR OBLAD

During fusion, sulfur from the organic compound reacts with sodium to form sodium sulfide.

a. Lead acetate test

The sodium sulfide formed during fusion reacts with lead acetate to yield a black
precipitate of lead sulfide. In this test, acetic acid is used to prevent the formation of other
insoluble lead salts.

b. Sodium nitroprusside test

The sodium sulfide formed during fusion reacts with sodium nitroprusside to give a
violet/purple complex due to the formation of sodium thionitroprusside.

Violet complex

3. HALOGENS TEYAS

During fusion, halogens (chlorine, bromine, iodine) form the organic compound reacts with
sodium to form sodium halides (NaCl, NaBr, NaI).

Na + X (X=Cl, Br, I) NaX (X=Cl, Br, I)

The addition of silver nitrate to an acidified solution will precipitate the silver halide as white-
yellow colored fine solids but darkens upon exposure to light. If nitrogen and sulfur are present,
silver cyanide (white) and silver sulfide (black) also precipitate. For this reason, it is necessary to
remove the cyanide and sulfide ions by boiling the original fusion solution with dilute nitric acid.

AgNO3 + NaX (X=Cl, Br, I) AgX + NaNO3

a. Chlorine

An acidified solution of sodium chloride reacts silver nitrate solution to yield a white
precipitate of silver chloride. The precipitate is soluble in ammonium hydroxide.

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 b. Bromine
An acidified solution of sodium bromide reacts silver nitrate solution to give a pale yellow
precipitate of silver bromide, which is sparingly soluble in ammonium hydroxide.

c. Iodine

An acidified solution of sodium iodide reacts silver nitrate solution to form yellow precipitate
of silver iodide, which is insoluble in ammonium hydroxide.

4. CARBON AND HYDROGEN RACHO

Carbon and hydrogen are detected by oxidizing the organic compound in a glass tube with
cupric oxide, CuO, (Figure 1). The reaction is shown below:

2CuO + (C) 2Cu + CO2

CuO + 2(H) Cu + H2O

CO2 turns limewater, Ca(OH)2 milky, forming a white precipitate, whereas H2O is seen as
droplets at the cooler part of the tube. H2O vapors also turns white anhydrous copper
sulphate to blue. The reactions are shown below:

CO2 + Ca(OH)2 → CaCO3  + H2O

limewater white precipitate

CuSO4 + 5H2O → CuSO4.5H2O

anhydrous form hydrated form
(white) (blue)

Figure 1. Setup for the elemental analysis of carbon and hydrogen in an organic compound

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 5. OXYGEN RACHO

Ferrox paper is used to test the presence of oxygen. This paper is prepared by soaking
filter paper in methanol containing equal amounts of KSCN and ferric chloride.
Ferrox reagent:
FeCl3 + KSCN → Fe[Fe(SCN)6]
Iron(III) hexathiocyanato ferrate (III)

In the presence of oxygen-containing compounds, the complex ion [Fe(SCN)6]3+

distributes itself between the filter paper and the test compound, resulting in a deep-red
colored solution. Non-oxygen containing compounds remain colorless.
VIRTUAL LABORATORY ACTIVITY ON QUALITATIVE TESTS OF ELEMENTS

OBJECTIVE

1. To detect the presence of nitrogen, sulphur, chlorine, bromine, iodine, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
in organic compounds.

Preparation of Sodium Fusion Extract (Lassaigne’s Extract)

Materials Required

Evaporating dish

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Procedure

1. Take a small piece of dry sodium in a fusion tube (Fig. 1).

2. Heat the tube slightly on a Bunsen burner so that the sodium melts to a shining globule (Fig. 2).
3. Add a pinch of the organic compound (Fig. 3).

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

4. Heat it slowly to start with so that the compound reacts with sodium metal (Fig. 4).
5. Now heat the tube strongly till it becomes red hot (Fig. 4).
6. Plunge the red hot tube into an evaporating dish containing distilled water (Fig. 5).
7. Crush the contents with a glass rod and heat to boiling point (Fig. 6 and 7).
8. Stop heating and remove the insoluble matter by filtration (Fig. 8).
9. The filtrate is called Lassaigne's Extract.

Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Lassaigne’s
extract

Figure 7 Figure 8

Detection of Nitrogen MALUBAY

Materials Required

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Procedure

1. To a small portion of the Lassaigne’s extract, add 2 ml of freshly prepared ferrous sulphate solution
and heat (Fig. 9 and 10).
2. Now add 2-3 drops of ferric chloride solution and acidify with conc. hydrochloric acid (Fig. 11 and 12).
3. If nitrogen is present, a Prussian blue complex forms (Fig. 13).

FeSO4 sol’n
FeCl3 sol’n

Lassaigne’s
extract

Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11

conc. HCl sol’n

Figure 12 Figure 13

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Detection of Sulfur OBLAD

Materials Required

Procedure
Sodium Nitroprusside Test Sodium
nitroprusside
1. To a small portion of
Lassaigne's exract, add a sol’n
few drops of sodium
nitroprusside solution (Fig.
14).
2. If sulfur is present, a violet-
colored complex forms
(Fig. 15).
Lassaigne’s
extract
Figure 14 Figure 15

Lead Acetate Test Acetic Lead

1. Acidify a small portion of Lassaigne's acid
extract with a few drops of acetic acid acetate
(Fig. 16). sol’n
2. Add a few drops of lead acetate solution
(Fig. 17).
3. If sulfur is present, black precipitates form
(Fig. 18).
Lassaigne’s
extract

Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18

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Detection of Halogens TEYAS

Materials Required

Procedure
conc. Silver
Silver Nitrate Test nitrate
HNO3
1. To a small portion of
Lassaigne's extract add
sol’n
1 ml of conc. nitric acid
and boil for some time
(Fig. 19 and 20).
2. Cool the contents and
to it add silver nitrate
solution (Fig. 21).
Lassaigne’s
3. If chlorine is present,
white precipitates extract
form. If bromine is
present, pale yellow Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21
precipitates form. If iodine
is present, yellow precipitates form (Fig. 22).

Chlorine Bromine Iodine

Figure 22

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Detection of Carbon and Hydrogen RACHO

Materials

Rubber
stopper

anhydrous CuO
CUSO4

Procedure
1. Grind together in a mortar one spatula of CuO and one half small spatula of the test compound.
Introduce the mixture into a dry test tube. Into this tube, fit a cork with a glass tubing and a rubber
tubing so that escaping gases can be bubbled below the surface of the filtered limewater (3mL) in a
second test tube. Clamp the tube containing the mixture. Heat it slowly and carefully. The setup can
be seen in Figure 23 and the changes upon heating can be visualized in Figure 24. If carbon is present,
the lime water turns milky and if hydrogen is present, the anhydrous CuSO4 turns blue (Fig. 25 and 26).

Figure 25

Figure 23

Figure 26
Figure 24

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Detection of Oxygen
Materials Required RACHO

Ferrox paper

Procedure
1. Ferrox paper is introduced to a test tube containing the organic compound to test the presence of
oxygen (Fig. 27). This paper is prepared by soaking filter paper in methanol containing equal amounts of
KSCN and ferric chloride. In the presence of oxygen-containing compounds, the complex ion [Fe(SCN)6]3+
distributes itself between the filter paper and the test compound, resulting in a deep-red colored
solution. Non-oxygen containing compounds remain colorless (Fig. 28).

Organic
compound
Ferrox paper

Oxygen- Non-oxygen-
containing containing
Figure 27 compound compounds
Figure 28
REFERENCES
amrita.olabs.edu.in,. (2013). Detection of Elements: Lassaigne's Test. Retrieved 16 March 2021, from
amrita.olabs.edu.in/?sub=73&brch=7&sim=149&cnt=1

Bojo, Amelia C., Lastimosa, Nellie C., Buncales, Emma O., Enot, Melania M. & Damaso, Christopher O.
(2008). Organic Chemistry Laboratory Manual.

7 Active Technology Solutions Pvt.Ltd. (2011). Detection of Carbon and Hydrogen. Retrieved 16 March
2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBxXkabvCYU

n.a. (2021). Ferrox Paper Test for Oxygen in Organic Compounds. Retrieved 16 March 2021, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZbbOjORs580

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