Oxidizing Ethanol to Acetic Acid

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]When ethanol is oxidized in an acidic environment, it transforms into acetic acid, which is the acid contained in vinegar. This is why leftover wine gets a vinegar smell. This is what we're doing today, transforming ethanol into acetic acid. If you want to support Lab Project, you can subscribe or join the channel as a member. Members get perks like priority replies to comments, their name at the end of my videos, loyalty badges, and custom emojis. Higher tiers also get early access to new videos and ad free content. If you prefer, there's also a PayPal link for direct support.

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[00:00:42]All the links are in the description. I poured some ethanol and some vinegar in two beers to run a test.

[00:01:09]I will test the difference of acidity with this LMUS paper. As we can see, the ethanol is pretty neutral.

[00:01:22]But the acetic acid in acidic to transform the ethanol into acetic acid. We'll need an oxidizer. I'll use potassium per manganate. First, I need to make a solution of potassium per manganate. So, I scoop some of it in a beaker and then I add some water.

[00:02:38]I mix everything with the stirring rod.

[00:02:40]And our solution is now ready.

[00:02:54]I then pour some ethanol in a errand mayor flask.

[00:03:19]I put it on my heating plate and add a stirring bar. I then start stirring on top of the erlin meer flask. I add an addition funnel.

[00:03:37]I close the valve and I pour in it the potassium per manganate solution.

[00:03:59]I then slowly start adding the potassium per manganate to ethanol. Here the potassium per manganate should react with the ethanol and disappear. So the solution should stay transparent. But this is not what's happening now. I wait some time but nothing changes. I try heating up the solution but still nothing.

[00:04:19]So I add this piece of glassear between the erlin meer flask and the addition funnel to add more ethanol. Maybe the potassium peraganate solution was too concentrated and the ethanol had all already reacted.

[00:04:43]So I add more ethanol.

[00:05:03]But still nothing. So I add more. It still doesn't work.

[00:05:37]I checked the pH to see if some acetic acid had formed, but it was still neutral.

[00:06:08]Then I remembered I forgot something very important. As I said in the beginning, this reaction happens only in an acidic environment. So I add some sulfuric acid to the solution and the potassium peranganate immediately started reacting and the solution started turning transparent again. So now I keep adding potassium peranganate.

[00:06:53]I refill the addition funnel and I keep on going.

[00:07:17]I test the pH and now it's actually acidic, how it should be.

[00:07:31]I vacuum filtered the solution to eliminate some weird solid stuff that had formed.

[00:08:46]To verify the presence of acetic acid, I run a test. It was actually not needed because the smell of it was pretty strong, but I did it anyway. I produced some iron 3 chloride and pouring the acetic acid, a purple complex should have formed.

[00:09:12]It didn't work.

[00:09:19]even adding actual acetic acid. I don't know why, but from the smell, I can tell that the reaction worked.

[00:09:31]If you want to support Lab Project, you can subscribe or join the channel as a member. Members get perks like priority replies to comments, their name at the end of my videos, loyalty badges, and custom emojis. Higher tiers also get early access to new videos and ad free content. If you prefer, there's also a PayPal link for direct support.

[00:09:53]Or you can check out the merch, lab codes, t-shirts, and mugs.

[00:09:58]All the links are in the description.

[00:10:01]Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next experiment.