In organic chemistry, Keller's reagent is a mixture of anhydrous (glacial) acetic acid, concentrated sulfuric acid, and small amounts of ferric chloride, used to detect alkaloids. Keller's reagent can also be used to detect other kinds of alkaloids via reactions in which it produces products with a wide range of colors. [1] [2] [3] Cohn describes its use to detect the principal components of digitalis (note that they may not be alkaloids). [4] The reaction with this reagent is also known as the Keller–Kiliani reaction, after C. C. Keller and H. Kiliani, who both used it to study digitalis in the late 19th century. [5] [6] It can be used for digitoxin's quantitative analysis. [7] Another method of visualizing the Keller-Kiliani reaction is to treat the test solution with ferric chloride-containing glacial acetic acid, followed by the addition of concentrated sulfuric acid, which sinks to the bottom (like in the brown ring test for nitrates). A brown ring in the interface indicates the presence of cardenolides. [8] [ better source needed ]
The Beckmann rearrangement, named after the German chemist Ernst Otto Beckmann (1853–1923), is a rearrangement of an oxime functional group to substituted amides. The rearrangement has also been successfully performed on haloimines and nitrones. Cyclic oximes and haloimines yield lactams.
Quinoline is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound with the chemical formula C9H7N. It is a colorless hygroscopic liquid with a strong odor. Aged samples, especially if exposed to light, become yellow and later brown. Quinoline is only slightly soluble in cold water but dissolves readily in hot water and most organic solvents. Quinoline itself has few applications, but many of its derivatives are useful in diverse applications. A prominent example is quinine, an alkaloid found in plants. Over 200 biologically active quinoline and quinazoline alkaloids are identified. 4-Hydroxy-2-alkylquinolines (HAQs) are involved in antibiotic resistance.
Fischer esterification or Fischer–Speier esterification is a special type of esterification by refluxing a carboxylic acid and an alcohol in the presence of an acid catalyst. The reaction was first described by Emil Fischer and Arthur Speier in 1895. Most carboxylic acids are suitable for the reaction, but the alcohol should generally be primary or secondary. Tertiary alcohols are prone to elimination. Contrary to common misconception found in organic chemistry textbooks, phenols can also be esterified to give good to near quantitative yield of products. Commonly used catalysts for a Fischer esterification include sulfuric acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, and Lewis acids such as scandium(III) triflate. For more valuable or sensitive substrates other, milder procedures such as Steglich esterification are used. The reaction is often carried out without a solvent or in a non-polar solvent that can facilitate Dean–Stark distillation to remove the water byproduct. Typical reaction times vary from 1–10 hours at temperatures of 60–110 °C.
In organic chemistry, an acyl chloride is an organic compound with the functional group −C(=O)Cl. Their formula is usually written R−COCl, where R is a side chain. They are reactive derivatives of carboxylic acids. A specific example of an acyl chloride is acetyl chloride, CH3COCl. Acyl chlorides are the most important subset of acyl halides.
In organic chemistry, an acyl halide is a chemical compound derived from an oxoacid by replacing a hydroxyl group with a halide group.
In organic chemistry, nitration is a general class of chemical processes for the introduction of a nitro group into an organic compound. The term also is applied incorrectly to the different process of forming nitrate esters between alcohols and nitric acid. The difference between the resulting molecular structures of nitro compounds and nitrates is that the nitrogen atom in nitro compounds is directly bonded to a non-oxygen atom, whereas in nitrate esters, the nitrogen is bonded to an oxygen atom that in turn usually is bonded to a carbon atom.
Cerium(IV) sulfate, also called ceric sulfate, is an inorganic compound. It exists as the anhydrous salt Ce(SO4)2 as well as a few hydrated forms: Ce(SO4)2(H2O)x, with x equal to 4, 8, or 12. These salts are yellow to yellow/orange solids that are moderately soluble in water and dilute acids. Its neutral solutions slowly decompose, depositing the light yellow oxide CeO2. Solutions of ceric sulfate have a strong yellow color. The tetrahydrate loses water when heated to 180-200 °C.
Potassium dichromate, K2Cr2O7, is a common inorganic chemical reagent, most commonly used as an oxidizing agent in various laboratory and industrial applications. As with all hexavalent chromium compounds, it is acutely and chronically harmful to health. It is a crystalline ionic solid with a very bright, red-orange color. The salt is popular in laboratories because it is not deliquescent, in contrast to the more industrially relevant salt sodium dichromate.
Classical qualitative inorganic analysis is a method of analytical chemistry which seeks to find the elemental composition of inorganic compounds. It is mainly focused on detecting ions in an aqueous solution, therefore materials in other forms may need to be brought to this state before using standard methods. The solution is then treated with various reagents to test for reactions characteristic of certain ions, which may cause color change, precipitation and other visible changes.
Acetyl chloride is an acyl chloride derived from acetic acid. It belongs to the class of organic compounds called acid halides. It is a colorless, corrosive, volatile liquid. Its formula is commonly abbreviated to AcCl.
Hydrogen iodide (HI) is a diatomic molecule and hydrogen halide. Aqueous solutions of HI are known as hydroiodic acid or hydriodic acid, a strong acid. Hydrogen iodide and hydroiodic acid are, however, different in that the former is a gas under standard conditions, whereas the other is an aqueous solution of the gas. They are interconvertible. HI is used in organic and inorganic synthesis as one of the primary sources of iodine and as a reducing agent.
Chemical tests in mushroom identification are methods that aid in determining the variety of some fungi. The most useful tests are Melzer's reagent and potassium hydroxide.
Acetic acid, systematically named ethanoic acid, is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula CH3COOH. Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component of vinegar apart from water. It has been used, as a component of vinegar, throughout history from at least the third century BC.
p-Dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMACA) is an aromatic hydrocarbon. It is used in an acidic solution to detect indoles.
An insertion reaction is a chemical reaction where one chemical entity interposes itself into an existing bond of typically a second chemical entity e.g.:
The Mandelin reagent is used as a simple spot-test to presumptively identify alkaloids as well as other compounds. It is composed of a mixture of ammonium metavanadate and concentrated sulfuric acid. Its primary use is for the detection of ketamine and PMA Unlike the most common reagent test chemicals, it has a deep red colour that changes to yellow if there is no alkaloid, which occurs within about 48 hours of mixing.
The Dille–Koppanyi reagent is used as a simple spot-test to presumptively identify barbiturates. It is composed of a mixture of two solutions. Part A is 0.1 g of cobalt(II) acetate dihydrate dissolved in 100 ml of methanol mixed with 0.2 ml of glacial acetic acid. Part B made up of is 5% isopropylamine (v/v) in methanol. Two drops of A are dropped onto the substance followed by one drop of B and any change in colour is observed.
Dragendorff's reagent is a color reagent to detect alkaloids in a test sample or as a stain for chromatography plates. Alkaloids, if present in the solution of sample, will react with Dragendorff's reagent and produce an orange or orange-red precipitate. This reagent was invented by the German pharmacologist, Johann Georg Dragendorff (1836–1898) at the University of Dorpat.
The Chen-Kao reaction is a chemical method for determining the presence of pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and similar phenylalkylamines. The reaction is used in spot tests and is also known as Chen-Kao test. The test is often used to distinguish ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine, cathinone and methcathinone from amphetamine and methamphetamine, which do not react with Chen’s test reagent.
The Dische test, or Dische reaction, is used to distinguish DNA from RNA. It was invented by Zacharias Dische.