Determining The Separation Of Starchloric Acid

To determine if the reaction had gone to completion, a Starch/Iodine test was conducted. A change in the strip to a deep blue color would signal an excess of sodium hypochlorite reagent present. An excess is the reagent symbolizes the end of the reaction because there is no longer any reactant left to consume reagent. After the reaction was deemed completed, the product was isolated and purified by ether extraction, aqueous extraction and evaporation. To determine how sodium hypochlorite acts as an oxidizing agent, the starting diol and final product were characterized through IR spectrum. Characterization of the peaks can be used to identify what functional groups are present in the final product that weren’t present initially.
Experimental
This flask was placed in a water bath on a magnetic stirrer. 3 mL of of 6% aqueous sodium hypochlorite was slowly added to the flask while maintaining a temperature below 30 degrees celsius. After thirty minutes a Starch/Iodine test was conducted to test for excess sodium hypochlorite, the strip did not change color so an additional 0.5 mL of reagent was added and allowed to mix for five more minutes. This process was repeated again and at 40 minutes the reagent was in excess. The reacted mixture was then added to a beaker containing 10 mL of saturated sodium chloride and a small piece of ice. This mixture was then separated equally into two centrifuge tubes where 3 mL of diethyl ether was then added. After gently shaking and venting the centrifuge tubes the bottom aqueous layer was extracted and stored in a separate