Home › CBSE Class 12 › Chemistry › Haloalkanes and Haloarenes › The WURTZ REACTION couples two alkyl halides wit…
The WURTZ REACTION couples two alkyl halides with sodium metal in dry ether to give
Aa primary alcohol
Ban alkene
Ca higher alkane
Da Grignard reagent
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. a higher alkane
1. NCERT §6.5 (Reactions of haloalkanes): the Wurtz reaction joins two alkyl halides via radical coupling.
2. Generic equation: $2\,\mathrm{R{-}X} + 2\,\mathrm{Na} \xrightarrow{\text{dry ether}} \mathrm{R{-}R} + 2\,\mathrm{NaX}$.
3. Product: a higher (symmetrical) ALKANE with double the number of carbons of the starting halide.
4. Example: $2\,\mathrm{CH_3Br} + 2\,\mathrm{Na} \to \mathrm{CH_3{-}CH_3} + 2\,\mathrm{NaBr}$ (ethane).
5. Limitation: works cleanly for SYMMETRIC alkanes (same alkyl halides). Unsymmetric coupling gives a MIXTURE of products.
6. Options A (alcohol), B (alkene), D (Grignard) describe other reaction outcomes.
_Source: NCERT Class 12 Chemistry Part 2, Ch 6, §6.4 (Preparations from haloalkanes — Wurtz reaction), p. 7._
Related questions
With which two hydrogen halides is the peroxide effect not observed?Addition anti to Markovnikov rule is known as the peroxide or:Who framed the rule for adding HBr to unsymmetrical alkenes, in 1869?An intermediate conformation between eclipsed and staggered is called:Eclipsed and staggered conformations are represented by Newman and:Across all conformations, what stays the same?How many conformations can an alkane have by rotation about single bonds?Spatial arrangements interconverted by rotation about a single bond are called: