Sciencemadness Discussion Board

C2H6O+HNO3---->___+NO2

Megamarko94 - 22-7-2011 at 03:09

C2H6O+HNO3---->___+NO2

woelen - 22-7-2011 at 03:52

Please use normal language next time when you have a question.

What should be added on the ___ is not easy to answer. In the case of complete oxidation, one would have CO2 and H2O as reaction products, but the oxidation of ethanol by nitric acid is not a clean simple reaction. There will be all kinds of side reactions and so you can expect the following compounds when adding nitric acid to ethanol:
- NO2
- NO
- CO2
- H2O
- CH3C(O)H
- CH3COOH
- and a lot of other organics, mostly stuff with one or two carbon atoms, but maybe even some condensation products.