19.2 Nitriles and hydroxynitriles · Heat a halogenoalkane with different reagents and solvents, or add HCN to a carbonyl, then hydrolyse the nitrile: follow the carbon count.
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About this lab
Heat a halogenoalkane with different reagents and solvents, or add HCN to a carbonyl, then hydrolyse the nitrile: follow the carbon count.
You will be able to
Recall the reagents and conditions by which a halogenoalkane gives an amine (NH₃ in ethanol, heated under pressure) and a nitrile (KCN in ethanol, heat).
Recall that an aldehyde or ketone and HCN, with KCN as catalyst, give a hydroxynitrile.
Describe the hydrolysis of a nitrile by dilute acid or dilute alkali, followed by acidification, to a carboxylic acid, and deduce the change in carbon chain length.
