Orgo Lab - Cyclohexane and GC Experiment Discussion Draft Part 3

The goal of the experiment was to obtain a product of pure cyclohexene. The presence of cyclohexanol in the product may have been due to improper distillation and washing. There may have been too much product left in the flask after distillation or the distillation rate may have been too high. When washing, the solution could have been mixed more thoroughly in order to obtain a pure product. Two chemical tests were performed to display the presence of alkene, or cyclohexene in this case, in the product. The bromine in dichloromethane chemical test resulted in no color change in the cyclohexene product, proving that the alkene functional group was present. The potassium permanganate chemical test resulted in a dark red/brown color with suspension in the cyclohexanol product, also revealing the presence of the alkene functional group. Therefore, distillation and washing was effectively used to synthesize cyclohexane from the dehydration of cyclohexanol.