Are acetic acid derivatives really negative to the iodoform test?

Abstract

Abstract Acetic acid derivatives such as ethyl acetate have been considered to be negative to the iodoform test because of the predominant hydrolysis leading to acetic acid. We clarified the immiscible property of the ester was the actual reason for the negative result. When THF or 1-propanol was used as a solvent, even alkyl acetate underwent the iodoform reaction; however, it cannot be used as qualitative test because of high solubility of iodoform into these solvents. This problem was overcome by conducting the test in methanol. Indeed, not only alkyl acetates but also N,N-dimethylacetamide showed positive to the iodoform test producing a yellow precipitates.

Keywords

• Iodoform test
• Acetic acid derivative
• Qualitative analysis
• Chemical education