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What is the chemical equation for the decarboxylation of butyric acid with soda lime?

Answer 1

Santiago Alfonso

The equation is

#"CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COOH" + "2NaOH" + "CaO" → "CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_3 + "Na"_2"CO"_3+ "Ca(OH)"_2#

The process of decarboxylation involves taking carbon dioxide out of a molecule.

For a carboxylic acid, the reaction would be #"R-COO-H" → "R-H" + "CO"_2#

But only the potassium or sodium salts go through ready decarboxylation.

In essence, soda lime is a concoction of calcium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, and calcium oxide.

To create sodium butyrate, butyric acid and soda lime react in the first step.

#"CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COOH" + "NaOH" → "CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COONa" + color(red)(cancel(color(black)("H"_2"O")))# #"CaO" + color(red)(cancel(color(black)("H"_2"O"))) → "Ca(OH)"_2# #stackrel(————————————————————)("CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COOH" + "NaOH" + "CaO" → "CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COONa" + "Ca(OH)"_2)#

The sodium salt's decarboxylation comes in second.

#"CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COONa" + "NaOH" → "CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_3 + "Na"_2"CO"_3#

The total of the two equations is the overall equation.

#"CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COOH" + "NaOH" + "CaO" → color(red)(cancel(color(black)("CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COONa"))) + "Ca(OH)"_2# #color(red)(cancel(color(black)("CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COONa"))) + "NaOH" → "CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_3 + "Na"_2"CO"_3# #stackrel(————————————————————————)("CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_2"COOH" + "2NaOH" + "CaO" → "CH"_3"CH"_2"CH"_3 + "Na"_2"CO"_3+ "Ca(OH)"_2)#

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Answer 2

Ellie Adams

The chemical equation for the decarboxylation of butyric acid (C4H8O2) with soda lime (a mixture of sodium hydroxide and calcium oxide) is:

C4H8O2 → C3H6 + CO2

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.