Why $C _2 H _5 OH$ is soluble in water but $C _2 H _5 OC _2 H _5$ is not?
Answer
Due to presence of polarity in $O - H$ bond, $C _2 H _5 OH$ forms a hydrogen bond with water which is responsible for the solubility of $C _2 H _5 OH$ whereas in $C _2 H _5 OC _2 H _5$ hydrogen bonding is not possible.
A solution of anhydrous zinc chloride in conc. hydrochloric acid is Lucas reagent. It is used to differentiate primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols.
Alcohols are comparatively more soluble in water than hydrocarbons of comparable molecular masses. Explain this fact.
Answer
Alcohol is a polar solvent. It form hydrogen bond with water molecules while hydrocarbons of comparable molecular masses does not form hydrogen bond due to being non-polar. Hence alcohol is more soluble in water.
Explain why propanol has higher boiling point than that of the hydrocarbon, butane?
Answer
The - OH group in propanol form intermolecular hydrogen bonding, thus it requires a lot of energy to break this hydrogen bond, as a result the boiling point increases. In butane the weak Van der Waals force of attraction present which requires less energy.