Question

Chlorine reacts with ethanol to give ______.

Options

• diethyl chloride

• chloroform

• acetaldehyde

• chloral

Answer 1

Chlorine reacts with ethanol to give chloral.

Explanation:

The reaction of chlorine with ethanol proceeds in two steps:

1. Ethanol is first oxidized by chlorine to form acetaldehyde (CH₃CHO) and hydrogen chloride.
2. The acetaldehyde then undergoes further chlorination, where the three alpha-hydrogens are replaced by chlorine atoms to form chloral (CCl₃CHO), also known as trichloroacetaldehyde.