a) The reaction temperature for this lab is significantly abovethe boiling point of the solvent used (ethanol boils at 78 o C; thereaction mixture was heated up to 140 o C). Why are we able toconduct reactions above the boiling point of the solvent when usingour microwave oven in lab?
b) Explain why hexane is a very poor choice as a solvent for amicrowave reaction.
c) After developing a TLC plate, a student looks at the TLCplate under the UV lamp but cannot see any spots. What could thestudent have possibly done wrong? List three separate possiblereasons for not being able to see any spots on a developed TLCplate.
d) After developing a TLC plate, a student looks at the TLCplate under the UV lamp but only sees large, overlapping blobs,instead of small spots. What is the likely problem, and what shouldthe student do to obtain a better TLC?
