Hello everybody!

 

I am trying to solve an assignment. I have a polychlorinated decane mixture. I have been asked to come up with any way (chemical derivatization or chromatography) to distinguish the following compounds in the mixture:

 

1) compounds containing vicinal chlorine

2) compounds having geminal chlorine

3) Compounds having terminal chlorine

 

I will aprreciate your help in this connection. Any literature references would be helpful

 

regards,

didni

It will depend on the specific nature of the molecules involved. If they are simply isomers of each other, then it could prove very difficult to do. One possible method would be flash column chromatography on silca or alumina gel. Depends on the retention of the compounds and if they differ enough for that to work. If the compounds are thermally stable and volatile, then you could also try fractional distiliation.