Question

Give a chemical test to distinguish between the following pair of compound:

Ethanol and Ethanal

Answer 1

Fehling solution: Ethanal reacts with Fehling's solution to produce brick red ppt, when ethanol does not.

1. \[\ce{\underset{Ethanal}{CH3CHO} + 2Cu+ + 5OH- -> CH3CO- + Cu2O + 3H2O}\]
2. \[\ce{\underset{Ethanol}{CH3OH} + 2Cu+ + 5OH- -> No reaction}\]