Conclusion In this lab, the reactivities of different types of hydrogens, including primary, secondary, tertiary aromatic, aliphatic, and benzylic hydrogens, were analyzed. The experiment was conducted twice, simultaneously. One set of test tubes containing bromine, dichloromethane, and one of toluene, ethylbenzene, tert-butylbenzene, cyclohexane, methylcyclohexane, or more dichloromethane (control), were exposed to UV light; the other equal set of test tubes were placed in a fume hood with the light off. This set of test tubes was not fully in the dark. Once the bromine was added to each test tube, the color of each test tube was monitored, and the time that a color change occurred in each test tube was noted. Bromine is red; when the solution was no longer red, it could be understood that the reaction had taken place. For the test tubes exposed to UV …show more content…
Methylcyclohexane became clear within about 28 minutes, cyclohexane was clear in about 55 minutes, and both the control and the tert-butylbenzene did not appear to change color. The dark test tubes changed color in the same order. Ethylbenzene became clear within about a minute, toluene became clear within 2 minutes, and methylcyclohexane was very light orange (almost clear) in 65 minutes. Cyclohexane, tert-butylbenzene, and the control were all still red, and had not appeared to have reacted. These results were expected; ethylbenzene and toluene had benzylic hydrogens, meaning they should be the fastest, which they were. Ethylbenzene also had