Why are alcohols soluble in water but hydrocarbons are not?

Why are alcohols soluble in water but hydrocarbons are not?

Alcohols of four or fewer carbon atoms are soluble in water because the alcohol molecules engage in hydrogen bonding with water molecules; comparable alkane molecules cannot engage in hydrogen bonding.

Why are alcohols very soluble in water?

Because alcohols form hydrogen bonds with water, they tend to be relatively soluble in water. The hydroxyl group is referred to as a hydrophilic (“water-loving”) group, because it forms hydrogen bonds with water and enhances the solubility of an alcohol in water.

Why alkenes are insoluble in water but soluble in alcohol?

Alkenes are Insoluble in water because they are also non-polar and covalent compounds. Alkenes are Soluble in a various organic solvent. Example: Benzene, ether, alcohol, etc.

Are alcohols more soluble than alcohols?

Evidence supporting this hypothesis can be found in the fact that diols (compounds with 2 —O–H groups) are more soluble than similar alcohols. More familiar water-soluble compounds such as the sugars glucose, fructose, and sucrose (a dimer of glucose and fructose – shown in the figure) are, in fact, polyalcohols.

Why do alcohols have a higher solubility in water than hydrocarbons of comparable size?

Question : Alcohols are comparatively more soluble in water than hydrocarbons of comparable molecular masses. Explain this fact. Answer : Alcohols have tendency to form H-bonds with water and break the already existing H-bonds between water molecules. Hence, they are soluble in water.

Why are hydrocarbons considered hydrophobic?

Nonpolar molecules are repelled by water and do not dissolve in water; are hydrophobic. Hydrocarbon is hydrophobic except when it has an attached ionized functional group such as carboxyl (acid) (COOH), then molecule is hydrophilic.

Which alcohols are insoluble in water?

Ethanol, Methanol, n-propyl, isopropyl, and t-butyl alcohols are miscible with water. Moreover, in alcohols, the −OH group is polar and makes them water-soluble….Solubility Chart.

Why do alcohols have higher boiling points than hydrocarbons?

Because of intermolecular hydrogen bonding in alcohols, they exist as associated molecules. Consequently, a large amount of energy is required to break these bonds and, therefore, their boiling points are higher than that of the corresponding hydrocarbons (hydrogen bonding is absent in hydrocarbons).

Why hydrocarbons are soluble in organic solvent?

Organic compounds tend to dissolve well in solvents that have similar properties to themselves. This principle is often referred to as “like dissolves like,” which means that polar molecules will generally dissolve well in polar solvents and non-polar molecules will generally dissolve in non-polar solvents.

Why alkenes are soluble in alcohols?

It has an hydroxy group so it has some polarity, and it has an hydrocarbyl tail that allows it to solvate non-polar molecules. And when we compare it to methanol, the which has a shorter hydrocarbyl chain, methanol is INSOLUBLE in hexanes, yet ethanol is SOLUBLE in this solvent.