Why was the tert. Butyl chloride washed with aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate? What
gas was evolved during the washing? Write a balance equation
You didn't give much of a hint as to the experiment you ran; however, I am assuming the NaHCO3 was to neutralize the acid used in the preparation of the t-butyl chloride. Then you washed that with water to get rid of the small amounts of NaHCO3 left from that washing.
Tert-butyl chloride was washed with aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate to remove any unreacted acidic impurities present in the compound. Aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate (also known as sodium bicarbonate or baking soda) is basic in nature and can effectively neutralize acidic impurities.
The gas evolved during the washing process is carbon dioxide (CO2). When sodium hydrogen carbonate reacts with an acid, like the acidic impurities in tert-butyl chloride, it produces carbon dioxide gas as one of the products.
The balanced equation for this reaction is as follows:
2 NaHCO3 (aq) + HCl (aq) -> CO2 (g) + H2O (l) + 2 NaCl (aq)
In this equation, aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate reacts with hydrochloric acid to produce carbon dioxide gas, water, and sodium chloride.
Tert-butyl chloride is typically washed with aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3) to remove any acidic impurities that may be present. This is known as a neutralization reaction.
The reaction that takes place during the washing is as follows:
tert-butyl chloride + NaHCO3 -> tert-butyl alcohol + NaCl + CO2 + H2O
The gas that is evolved during the washing is carbon dioxide (CO2). The CO2 gas is produced as a result of the reaction between the acidic impurities in tert-butyl chloride and the basic sodium hydrogen carbonate solution.