What occurs in the following scenarios when the given solute is partitioned between water and diethyl ether?

#"(i) Sodium chloride reacts with water."#
#"(ii) Limonene is partitioned in water and ether."#
#"(iii) Sodium acetate reacts with water."#
#"(iv) Eugenol is extracted with ether."#

1 Answer
anor277
Nov 4, 2017

#(a)#...well sodium chloride reacts with water....

Explanation:

to give ions, that are stabilized by interaction with water...:

#NaCl(s) stackrel(H_2O)rarrNa^(+) + Cl^(-)#

....and the ions would be confined to the AQUEOUS phase.

#(b)#...#"limonene"# is an alicyclic organic compound, i.e. #C_10H_16#, which would be effectively confined to the organic layer...

#(c)#...#"sodium acetate"# again speciates in water to give #Na^+# and #H_3C-CO_2^(-)# ions....there would be some degree of water hydrolysis...

#Na^(+)""^(-)O_2C-CH_3(s) stackrel(H_2O)rarrNa^(+) + ""^(-)O_2C-CH_3#

#AcO^(-) + H_2O(l) rarr AcOH(aq) + HO^-#

#(d)#...#"eugenol"#, #"oil of cloves,"# is a beautiful smelling organic species....#C_10H_12O_2# that was (is!) widely used as an antiseptic and anaesthetic in dentistry.....and it would be effectively confined to the organic layer.....

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