Question

experiment ( preparation of tert-butyl chloride )

1- what is the purpose of washing tert-butyl chloride with saturated NaHCO3 solution ?

2- why should the distillation be ice-cold ?

Answer 1

1. Since, one of the method for the synthesis of tertiary butyl chloride is the reaction of tertiary alcohol with HCl via SN1 reaction, to remove the any traces of acid content we will add saturated NaHCO3 which neutralize the acid.

2. To prevent the decomposition of compounds distillation will be carried out at ice cold conditions ( in this experiment there is a chance for elimination reaction if carry out the distillation or reaction at high temperature )