How would you convert:

(a) ethanol into ethene?
(b) propanol into propanoic acid?
Name the process in each case and write the equations of the reactions involved.


(a) Ethanol can be converted into ethene by the dehydration reaction.
The chemical equation for the reaction is given below:
$CH_3-CH_2OH → CH_2=CH_2 + H_2O$
When ethanol is heated with concentrated sulphuric acid at 170oC, ethanol gets dehydrated to form ethene, an unsaturated hydrocarbon.
Concentrated sulphuric acid acts as the dehydrating agent in this reaction.

(b) Propanol is converted into propanoic acid by the oxidation reaction.
The chemical equation for the reaction is given below:
$CH_3-CH_2-CH_2-OH → CH_3CH_2COOH$

Propanol is oxidized to propanoic acid in the presence of alkaline potassium permanganate solution (alkaline KMnO4) which acts as an oxidizing agent as it adds oxygen to convert propanol to propanoic acid.

Updated on: 10-Oct-2022

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