Chemistry

What Is Tollens’ Test? Tollens’ test also referred to as silver-mirror test is a qualitative laboratory test used to distinguish between aldehyde and ketone. The test is named after a German chemist, Bernard Tollens who discovered the test. The test involves use of Tollens’ reagent which must be prepared immediately prior to its use as … Read more

What Is Lead Sulfide Test? Lead sulfide test also referred to as lead acetate test is a biochemical test for the detection of amino acids like cysteine and cystine. The test is a specific test for the detection of amino acids containing sulfur, S-S group in cysteine and S-H group in cysteine. It is important … Read more

Amines Amines may be considered as substitution products of ammonia. When one hydrogen atom of ammonia is replaced with an alkyl or aryl group,the resulting amine is called primary amine (R—NH2). When two hydrogen atoms of ammonia molecule are replaced with two alkyl or aryl groups, the resulting compound is called secondary amine. The replacement … Read more

Carboxylic Acids Carboxylic acid, any of a class of organic compounds in which a carbon (C) atom is bonded to an oxygen (O) atom by a double bond and to a hydroxyl group (―OH) by a single bond. A fourth bond links the carbon atom to a hydrogen (H) atom or to some other univalent combining group. The carboxyl (COOH) group is so-named … Read more

Aldehydes and Ketones Aldehydes and ketones have a carbonyl group (C=O) as a functional group. A ketone has two alkyl or aryl groups attached to the carbonyl carbon (RCOR’). The simplest ketone is acetone, which has two methyl groups attached to the carbonyl carbon (CH3COCH3). An aldehyde is similar to a ketone, except that instead … Read more

Phenols Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group (−C6H5) bonded to a hydroxy group (−OH). Mildly acidic, it requires careful handling because it can cause chemical burns. Phenol was first extracted from coal tar, but today is produced on a large scale (about 7 billion kg/year) from petroleum-derived feedstocks. It … Read more

Alcohols Compounds in which the hydroxyl group (—OH) is linked to aliphatic carbon chain or in the side chain of an organic compound are called alcohols. The alcohols containing one, two or three hydroxyl groups per molecule are called mono, di or trihydric alcohols respectively.Alcohols are further classified as primary (1°), secondary (2°) and tertiary … Read more

Saturated And Unsaturated Hydrocarbons Hydrocarbons, or molecules which contain hydrogen atoms and carbon atoms that are bonded to each other and may or may not contain other atoms, are classified into two distinct categories: saturated and unsaturated.  Saturated Hydrocarbons A Saturated hydrocarbon is a hydrocarbon in which all the carbon-carbon bonds are single bonds. A … Read more

Molecules of organic compounds except that of hydrocarbons can be divided into two parts, a reactive part which is referred to as functional group and a skeleton of carbon atoms called alkyl group. The properties of a compound are largely determined by the functional group. Different compounds having same functional group have similar properties and … Read more