The Manufacture of

Ethanol
C7.1 Alcohols, carboxylic
acids and esters.

Objectives
Must
Recall that the characteristic properties of
alcohols are due to the presence of an OH
functional group
Should
Describe how ethanol can be synthesised the
limitations of fermentation reactions
Could
Explain why bioethanol is important for
sustainability

Starter Title: Functional

groups
Look back at your table from last
lesson.
Write a short paragraph to explain
why different organic chemicals have
different properties in terms of
functional groups.
Use examples such as carboxylic
acids are acidic because they have a

Can you recall the properties and

uses of ethanol?
Properties: volatile liquid (evaporates
quickly at room temperature,
colourless, burns readily in air with a
blue flame, good solvent
Uses: biofuels, solvents, feedstock
for synthesis, cleaner etc

How do we make ethanol?

Think about home
brewing/winemaking? What process
do we use?
Fermentation is a key process for
obtaining ethanol. It is relatively
cheap and requires wheat or beet
sugar.
The process involves the anaerobic
respiration of yeast at temperatures
between 20 and 40C and at pH 7.

Conditions for fermentation

Why is temperature important?
Outside an optimum temperature the yeast does not work (high
temperatures kill the yeast).
Why do you think pH is important?
Outside an optimum pH the yeast does not work (extremes of
pH kill the yeast).
Why do you think it is important to shut out oxygen?
To make ethanol the yeast must respire anaerobically (without
oxygen).
What effect will increasing ethanol concentration have on
the yeast?
Eventually the ethanol concentration will be too high for the
fermentation to continue. This means only a dilute solution can
be made.

How do we obtain a concentrated

solution?
Ethanol has a different boiling point
to water. We can therefore separate
water and ethanol using distillation.

Other methods of obtaining ethanol

For homework research the
different methods of obtaining
ethanol including fermentation. You
might also come across a method
using algae!

Produce a minimum of 1 page in your

class book or e-mail a word
processed sheet.

Plenary Balancing chemical

equations
Glucose (a simple sugar) is created in
the plant by photosynthesis.
Can you balance the following
equation for photosynthesis?
__CO2 + ___ H2O C6H12O6 + __ O2
6 CO2 + 6 H2O C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Plenary part 2
During ethanol fermentation, glucose
is decomposed into ethanol and
carbon dioxide.
Can you balance this equation?
C6H12O6 __ CH3CH2OH+ __CO2
C6H12O6 2 CH3CH2OH+ 2 CO2

Plenary part 3
During combustion ethanol reacts
with oxygen to produce carbon
dioxide, water, and heat:
Can you balance this equation?
CH3CH2OH + __ O2 __ CO2 + __ H2O
CH3CH2OH + 3 O2 2 CO2 + 3 H2O