December 14, 2015
Tests for Unsaturation
1) The Bromine Test
• bromine can be used to test for the presence of multiple bonds
• bromine has a brownish colour
• if bromine is added to an alkene or alkyne the brownish colour
disappears
• if bromine is added to an alkane, the brownish colour remains
December 14, 2015
2) Potassium Permanganate Test for Alkenes
KMnO4 is a deep purple
colour
When added to unsaturated
compounds the MnO4- gets
reduced to MnO2 which
forms a brown precipitate
December 14, 2015