Report Sheet No.

Name Componion, Chervil Kaye T. Sec Code 2 PSY-B Group 3 Date 03-28-23

Experiment No. 6

AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS

OBJECTIVES:

1. To differentiate aliphatic from aromatic hydrocarbons.

2. To explain why aromatic ring is resistant to oxidation.
3. To discuss the properties of benzene.

Test Visible Results

 Water – benzene is insoluble

and floats in water.

 Ethyl alcohol – slightly soluble

A. Solubility
 Acetone – benzene completely
dissolved in acetone and created
a clear solution.

Benzene produced a yellow-colored

B. Inflammability
flame with black soot.

C. Oxidation No reaction.
Discussion of Results:

A. Solubility
- Benzene is insoluble in water primarily because it is a non-polar
compound and is slightly dense than water. This explains why it
only sits atop an aqueous solution such as water.

- Benzene is miscible in alcohol but it did not completely dissolved

in ethyl alcohol because it contains OH which makes them a polar
compound.

- Aside from being both organic compounds, acetone molecules have

a polar carbonyl group, meaning it can accept hydrogen bonds
from other chemicals, including benzene. Therefore, benzene is
soluble in acetone.

B. Inflammability
- Benzene is highly flammable. As a result, once it's burned, the
flame has higher carbon content, resulting in a smoky flame. Since
aromatic compounds have a ring structure of carbon atoms, they
burn with a sooty flame. The cause of this soot is incomplete
combustion, particularly unreacted carbon particles that heat up
and glow, turning the flame yellow-colored.

C. Oxidation
- The benzene ring is not oxidized by potassium permanganate.
Under strong circumstances, however, the alkyl side chain is
completely oxidized, resulting in the production of a carboxylic acid
at the location of the alkyl group. Potassium permanganate can
also oxidize a typical double bond, but since benzene doesn't
contain any double bonds, this method is ineffective. As opposed to
this, benzene rings have a unique, delocalized bonding that
provides more stability, which causes resistant to the potassium
permanganate.
Conclusion:

Benzene is insoluble in water therefore immiscible with each other. Whereas in

alcohol, benzene only partially dissolved due to alcohol containing carbon
atoms, which makes it a polar compound to some extent. Furthermore, acetone
is also a polar compound; therefore, benzene is soluble in it. Benzene also is
highly flammable containing high carbon content; due to this, it can be
harmful for human to have a close contact with whenever combustion
happens.

Questions:

1. Explain why aromatic ring is resistant to oxidation.

- Aromatic rings are highly stable and are resistant to oxidizing
agents such as the one used in the experiment, potassium
permanganate. This resistance is because of the delocalization of
electrons. It is also important to note that if a side chain is
attached to the aromatic ring, this chain will be oxidized leaving
the aromatic ring unchanged. This attached carbon, however, must
have benzylic hydrogen, the hydrogen atoms attached to the
carbon next to the aromatic ring; otherwise, the alkyl group
without benzylic hydrogen will not be oxidized.
-
2. Does potassium permanganate react with benzene?
- Alkanes are saturated hydrocarbons that are only somewhat stable
due to the presence of just sigma bonds (single bonds). They are
devoid of pi bonds (double bonds). Potassium permanganate is a
powerful oxidizing agent. It dissolves in water, producing purple
solutions. Because oxidizers and alkanes do not have functional
groups such as double bonds that can be further oxidized, alkanes
do not react with potassium permanganate. Potassium
permanganate has no oxidizing properties. The benzene ring.
However, under strong circumstances, the alkyl side chain is
completely oxidized, producing a carboxylic acid at the alkyl group
position. When there are two or more alkyl groups on a ring, they
are all oxidized. Potassium permanganate does not oxidize the
benzene ring. However, at extreme conditions, the alkyl side chain
is totally oxidized, resulting in the formation of a carboxylic acid at
the alkyl group's position. When a ring contains two or more alkyl
 groups, all of them are oxidized. Nonetheless, the benzene ring is
unharmed.

3. Why is benzene called aromatic hydrocarbons?

- The simplest organic, aromatic hydrocarbon and a precursor to a
large number of vital aromatic compounds is benzene. Since the
aromatic ring is stable due to the delocalization of the pi electrons
around the ring, aromatic compounds have distinctive physical
and chemical features. Because benzene contains an aromatic
ring, that's why it is referred to as an aromatic hydrocarbon.

4. Give at least four properties of benzene.

Physical properties
- A liquid aromatic hydrocarbon that is colorless and has a gasoline-
like odor.
- Immiscible in water
- Evaporates into the air quickly.

Chemical Properties

- Highly flammable. Upon combustion, benzene produces a sooty

flame.