SCH4U- UNIT 2

1.4 Alcohols and Ethers

Alcohols
 alcohols are created by the addition of a ____________ ____________
 Applications: ____________ - known as wood alcohol; produced by heating
wood in the absence of air
____________ - alcoholic beverages; fermentation of sugars and plants
____________ – found in vitamin A
Naming Alcohols
 Parent chain ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
(unless there is another more prominent functional group – e.g. carbonyl group)
 Alcohol functional group is named _____
 added to the prefix of the parent alkane
 parent chain is numbered so the ____________ (not the side chains) has the
____________ ____________
 If alcohol has ____________ than 2 C atoms, or more than 2 –OH groups, need
____________ to identify ____________
 Location of –OH group indicated by number of C atom that ____________ _____
____________
Naming Alcohols (Examples)

a) b)

Drawing Alcohols (Examples)

a) 3-methylbutan-1-ol
b) Propane-1,2-diol
c) Phenol
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Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Alcohols

 Alcohols classified differently based on the carbon that is bearing the –OH group
 ____________ means that the carbon the functional group is bonded to is joined
to only one other carbon (R)
 ____________ means that the carbon the functional group is bonded to is joined
to two other carbon (R and R’)
 ____________ means that the carbon the functional group is bonded to is joined
to three other carbon (R, R’ and R’’)

Butanol and It’s Isomers

Butan-1-ol Butan-2-ol 2-methylpropan-2-ol

PRIMARY alcohol SECONDARY alcohol or TERTIARY alcohol or 3º
or 1º 2º

Positional Isomers
 Positional Isomers: same hydrocarbon skeleton (____________
____________) and same functional group; but the functional group is joined to a
different part of the skeleton
Polyalcohols
 alcohols that have ____________ ____________ ____________ hydroxyl group
 suffixes are added: -____________ and –____________ to alkane name
Examples: Propane-1,2,3-triol
 Commonly known as glycerol. Can make H-bonds. Used in moisturizers, hand
lotions, lipsticks and foods such as chocolate.
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Properties of Alcohols
 boiling points much ____________ than parent alkanes
 due to present of hydroxyl group ( - OH)
 ____________ group, allows alcohols to form ____________
____________
 in long-chain alcohols, the hydrocarbon portion is nonpolar, making
____________ ____________ good solvents for non polar compounds as
well
Ethers
 add ____________ to the prefix of the ____________ hydrocarbon group
 join the prefix to the alkane name of the ____________ hydrocarbon group
 sometimes named by combing the names of the two alkyl groups with the word
ether (ie. Methyl ethyl ether or diethyl ether)
 Use previous 2 rules
Naming Ethers (Examples)

1: 2:

Drawing Ethers (Examples)

Ethoxypentane 3-methoxypentan-2-ol

Functional Group Isomers

 Functional Group Isomers: some functional groups have isomers that contain
other functional groups
Ex. Ethanol and Methoxymethane
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Properties of Ethers
 structure of ethers is similar to water and alcohol
 oxygen bonded to two alkyl groups
 no OH group and so _____ ____________ ____________
 still polar molecules
 intermolecular attractions, ____________ ____________ ____________ but
____________ ____________ ____________
Reactions of Alcohols
 Alcohol molecules can be made by____________ ____________. Addition ___
____________ to alkene or alkynes (following Markovnikov’s rule)
 Alcohols can ____________ (complete and incomplete)
Elimination (Dehydration)
 performed by passing the alcohol over an acid catalyst or heated aluminum oxide
catalyst
 propanol is ____________ (water removed) to an alkene
 In a lab, dehydration performed by heating the alcohol with concentrated sulfuric
acid

Condensation Reactions (Ether Synthesis)

 ____________ reaction is one in which two molecules ____________ to form a
larger product, with the elimination of a small molecule such as ____________ or
an ____________
 condensation of two alcohols produces an ether

Homework: