Simple Distillation Lab Report

This experiment required the used of reflux to heat the mixture because it is a technique that does not lose any liquid due to evaporation. A reflux apparatus is capped so that vapors do not escape and the system is contained resulting in a larger end product. The reason for using a distillation technique was to produce an individual component of the starting compound, here 1-propanol and 2-pentanol. Drying is a very important step because if the product is wet, it will have added incorrect water weight. Before drying, first the product must be separated from the organic layer. The reason for applying the reflux method over simple distillation is simply because the reflux is set up to return the condensed distillate to the flask. This allows it to boil, yet lose no solution. Simple

The peaks at representative frequencies help determine which functional groups are in the molecule of a certain compound1. As explained in Table 1, the IR spectrum for 1-propanol was slightly different than the IR spectrum of its products, the racemic mixture of 1-bromopropane and 2-bromopropane. The starting material had a strong alcohol peak while the product did not. The same happened with 2-pentanol, the reactants showed a different IR spectrum than its expected products, 2-bromopentane and 3-bromopentane. During the reaction, the original reactant loses its alcohol functional group and is replaced with a halide. This results in a loss of a very noticeable broad, strong peak. IR can differentiate between starting and ending materials, but it cannot show differences between two products that are enantiomers and a racemic mixture. With 2-pentanol products, for instance, the IR spectrum cannot determine between the two products formed. They contain the same functional groups, so their respective IR spectrums would look the same since IR only shows components of a compound, not exact