Alkyl halides left in an open container what happens?

[saching]

Homework Statement

A student left some alkyl halides (RCI and RBr) in an open container for several hours. What happened to the composition of the halide mixture during that time? Assume that some liquid remains in the container.

Homework Equations

From: http://www.ipfw.edu/chem/254/254%20Fall%2005/CHM%20254%20Experiment%2024.htm The experiment had to do with measuring the nucleophilicity of different nucleophiles.

The Attempt at a Solution

I've thought about this problem a number of ways but can't seem to make much progress. At first I thought the halides might be volatile and evaporate into the vapor. That seems right given the hint--but that doesn't tell me what would happen to the composition of the halide mixture other than that the more volatile one would evaporate further.

I've also pondered the idea that water vapor from the air might go into the mixture and cause some kind of reaction although I think that would be a bit much to assume.

Any ideas?

 

[Borek]

At first I thought the halides might be volatile and evaporate into the vapor. That seems right given the hint--but that doesn't tell me what would happen to the composition of the halide mixture other than that the more volatile one would evaporate further.

If one evaporates more easily, mixture becomes richer in the other one. I don't think you can say anything more.

 

[Blueshift5]

I would approach this problem by first considering the properties of alkyl halides. These compounds are generally known to be volatile and can easily evaporate into the air. Therefore, it is likely that the alkyl halides left in an open container would evaporate over time.

However, the rate of evaporation would depend on the specific properties of each alkyl halide. For example, alkyl bromides are generally more volatile than alkyl chlorides due to the larger size of the bromine atom. This means that the composition of the halide mixture would change over time, with the more volatile alkyl bromides evaporating at a faster rate.

In terms of reactions with water vapor, it is possible that some of the alkyl halides may react with water to form alcohols. This would depend on the specific conditions of the container, such as humidity and temperature. However, this reaction would likely be slow and would not significantly affect the overall composition of the halide mixture.

Overall, leaving alkyl halides in an open container for several hours would result in a decrease in the overall amount of halides present, with the more volatile compounds evaporating at a faster rate. This could potentially affect the results of the experiment measuring nucleophilicity, as the concentration of each halide would change over time. It is important to take this into consideration when interpreting the results of the experiment.