Thursday, September 20, 2018

organic chemistry - Reaction of NaOH with methanol and ethanol?


Methanol (CHX3OH) and ethanol (CHX3CHX2OH) react with sodium metal (Na) to form sodium methoxide (CHX3OXNaX+) and sodium ethoxide (CHX3CHX2OXNaX+):


2CHX3OH+2Na2CHX3OXNaX++HX2

2CHX3CHX2OH+2Na2CHX3CHX2OXNaX++HX2


Do methanol and ethanol react with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the same way as sodium do to form sodium methoxide and sodium ethoxide respectively?



Answer




The proposed reaction:


CHX3OH(l)+NaOH(s)CHX3OXNaX+(s)+HX2O(l)


According to wikipedia:



The solid hydrolyzes in water to give methanol and sodium hydroxide



The equilibrium is biased to the left, as @vapid has mentioned in the comments. To quote him:



In the large excess of alcohol, the reaction will be considerably shifted towards alkoxide.




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