Chemical Synthesis Lab Report

Introduction Chemical synthesis is the process of making complex compounds from other compounds. This technique is important because it allows chemists to make compounds that may be expensive or rare by using inexpensive or abundant starting compounds. Some of these syntheses take several steps to get to the end product, these being multistep syntheses (Reusch, 2013). A multistep synthesis has several factors that should be considered. These include: selectivity, acidity, basicity, and reactivity of the compounds, the number of steps, the efficiency, the cost, and the yield of the synthesis. Selectivity of the compounds used as reactants are important. If the reactant is not selective to the functional group that needs to be changed, the synthesis can lead to other products that are not wanted. Protective groups, in some cases, can fix this, but that takes up more time and resources. Acidity and basicity are also important to consider, because an acid-base reaction may take place instead of the reaction wanted, causing unwanted products to be formed. Reactivity of the compounds can cause the same problem as the previous two examples. The number of steps and the efficiency of the synthesis are important because syntheses with fewer steps that are efficient save time and money. Money is important to consider

When the sodium ethoxide was added, the solution looked oily indicating the ethoxide dissolving in the ethanol. When the diethyl malonate was added, the solution turned a cloudy white indicating the creation of the enolate. The visible solid in the solution indicated that it was saturated with NaCl due to not being able to dissolve and hold anymore NaCl. The Congo Red paper turned dark blue when touched with the solution after adding a sufficient amount of HCl indicating that the pH was less than 1. White puffs of smoke formed during the simple distillation indicating the decarboxylation had