Home >
Community >
Why do secondary alcohols have a higher priority in an oxidation reaction than primary alcohols?
Upvote
14
Downvote
+ Chemical reactions
+ Alcohol
+ Chemistry
+ Organic chemistry
Posted by
Marian Doscillo
Why do secondary alcohols have a higher priority in an oxidation reaction than primary alcohols?
Why do secondary alcohols have higher boiling points than primary alcohols?
Why do you ask why something that isn’t true … is true?
As the first two examples,
1-propanol, 97 °C vs 2-propanol, 82 °C
1-butanol, 118 °C vs 2-butanol, 100 °C
In each case, the primary alcohol has a higher boiling point than the secondary alcohol, by well over 10 deg-C.
I’m not interested in doing a complete analysis of all known alcohol isomer boiling points. A primary alcohol has an easier time hydrogen-bonding because it is less sterically hindered, so you’d expect its boiling point to be higher. And it is.
Why do secondary alcohols have higher boiling points than primary alcohols?
Why do you ask why something that isn’t true … is true?
As the first two examples,
1-propanol, 97 °C vs 2-propanol, 82 °C
1-butanol, 118 °C vs 2-butanol, 100 °C
In each case, the primary alcohol has a higher boiling point than the secondary alcohol, by well over 10 deg-C.
I’m not interested in doing a complete analysis of all known alcohol isomer boiling points. A primary alcohol has an easier time hydrogen-bonding because it is less sterically hindered, so you’d expect its boiling point to be higher. And it is.
Why do secondary alcohols have higher boiling points than primary alcohols?
Why do you ask why something that isn’t true … is true?
As the first two examples,
In each case, the primary alcohol has a higher boiling point than the secondary alcohol, by well over 10 deg-C.
I’m not interested in doing a complete analysis of all known alcohol isomer boiling points. A primary alcohol has an easier time hydrogen-bonding because it is less sterically hindered, so you’d expect its boiling point to be higher. And it is.
Why do secondary alcohols have higher boiling points than primary alcohols?
Why do you ask why something that isn’t true … is true?
As the first two examples,
In each case, the primary alcohol has a higher boiling point than the secondary alcohol, by well over 10 deg-C.
I’m not interested in doing a complete analysis of all known alcohol isomer boiling points. A primary alcohol has an easier time hydrogen-bonding because it is less sterically hindered, so you’d expect its boiling point to be higher. And it is.
More
VOTE
What “Higher priority”? Secondary alcohols yield ketones, primary alcohols yield carboxylic acids.
What “Higher priority”? Secondary alcohols yield ketones, primary alcohols yield carboxylic acids.
More
VOTE