preview

Elimination Reactions

Decent Essays

In this lab, the goal is to explore the idea of elimination reactions and investigate ways to synthesizes alkynes. The product that will be produced is diphenylacetylene and this will be done by starting with meso-stilbene dibromide using elimination reactions. The balanced reaction is:

For an E2 reaction to occur, strong bases should be utilized for this lab since E2 reactions favor well with strong bases. KOH is a strong base that is also acts as a strong nucleophile. This is because it contains a hydroxyl group and they are both strong bases and nucleophiles.
Heat will also be applied to encourage the chemicals to go through the elimination reaction. There will be two ways to apply heat so that the reaction can occur. The first way is through a thermal reaction process using sand baths to heat the reaction. The other method of heating is to microwave the product so that the elimination reaction can …show more content…

A flea stir bar and 4.0 mL of 95% ethanol were added to the microwave reactor vessel. The solution was then stirred using a magnetic stirrer until all the KOH dissolved. 1.0 g of meso-stilbene dibromide was added in the microwave reactor vessel. The cap of the vessel was placed, tightened and the vessel was placed in a microwave reactor carousel. After the reaction was complete, the vessel with the mixed reaction was placed in a tap water bath so that it may be cooled. After it cooled down, 10 mL of DI water was placed in a 50 mL and the reaction mixture was poured into there to precipitate the product. The product was then collected by vacuum filtration and Hirsch funnel. The product was rinsed with 3 mL of DI water three times. The product dried on the filter paper with the vacuum on for 5 minutes after the rinse. The product was then placed in a drawer so that it may completely dry so that the weight and the melting point may be recorded later. The final product was a light brown

Get Access