Same chapter3 marksDifficulty: Medium
Why is benzene unusually stable and why does it prefer substitution to addition?
Hydrocarbons
3 marksDifficulty: Medium
What is the Wurtz reaction, and state its main limitation.
Original Khojo Papers practice question — not from a past board paper.
Answer
In the Wurtz reaction an alkyl halide is heated with sodium in dry ether and two alkyl groups join to give a higher alkane. Its limitation is that it works well only for a symmetrical alkane: two different halides give a mixture of three products that is hard to separate, and methane cannot be prepared by it at all.
No citable source has been recorded for this record. Treat it as practice material, not as fact.
Explanation
The reaction always gives an alkane with an even number of carbon atoms when a single halide is used.
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