levo

Colour by Design

Cyanohydrin formation and its use in synthesis

  • 1 thing to know
  • Components 01, 02 and 03

Overview

Recall questions on the reagent, the product and its class, why the reaction is useful for lengthening a chain, and the safety precaution.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Process

Explain how the three carbonyl tests work together to place an unknown compound.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Explain how the three carbonyl tests work together to place an unknown compound.

    Model answer

    Acidified dichromate shows whether the compound can be oxidised at all, while Tollens' and Fehling's are mild enough to be positive only for an aldehyde, so together they separate aldehydes from ketones and from alcohols.

  2. 2

    Which reagent converts a carbonyl compound into a cyanohydrin?

    Model answer

    Hydrogen cyanide, usually generated in situ from potassium or sodium cyanide with a little acid, so that cyanide ions remain available to attack.

  3. 3

    What is the systematic class name for a cyanohydrin?

    Model answer

    It is a hydroxynitrile.

  4. 4

    Give the formula of the product formed when ethanal reacts with hydrogen cyanide.

    Model answer

    The product is CH₃CH(OH)CN.

  5. 5

    Name the product formed when ethanal reacts with hydrogen cyanide.

    Model answer

    It is 2-hydroxypropanenitrile.

  6. 6

    Give the formula of the product formed when propanone reacts with hydrogen cyanide.

    Model answer

    The product is (CH₃)₂C(OH)CN.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Development of Practical Skills in Chemistry
Elements of Life
Developing Fuels
Elements From the Sea

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

A acid is formed.
carboxylicnitricfatty

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

A3 ⁴₂He → ¹²₆C.
B¹²₆C + ⁴₂He → ¹⁶₈O.
C¹⁶₈O + ⁴₂He → ²⁰₁₀Ne.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Nitrogen is +2 in NO and +4 in NO₂.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Colour by Design, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.