A2 Chemistry – Assessed Practical: Skill P
Identification of an organic unknown
Aim
There are many different chemical tests, which enable us to identify an unknown compound. The only thing known about the compound is that it contains one of the following functional groups:
- Alkene
- Primary alcohol
- Tertiary alcohol
- Aldehyde
- Ketone
- Carboxylic acid
- Ester
- Phenol
I devised a sequence of tests that would identify which of the groups the sample contains. Initially I worked out what tests there are for each functional group, and decided which one to use on the basis that each test should be dependent on the result of the previous test, which helped me to arrange the sequence.