The conversion of maleic anhydride to maleic acid occurs with
[ Select ]
acid and heat
base and heat
acid at room temperature
heat alone
no catalyst or energy required, (reaction is spontaneous)
conditions in the presence of
[ Select ]
water
alcohol
other
.

Question

The conversion of maleic anhydride to maleic acid occurs with 
[ Select ]
acid and heat
base and heat
acid at room temperature
heat alone
no catalyst or energy required, (reaction is spontaneous)
 conditions in the presence of 
[ Select ]
water
alcohol
other
 .

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The prompt presents two dropdown insertion points within the statement about the hydrolysis of maleic anhydride to maleic acid. We will reason through what is required for this transformation and what the correct conditions are.

First part of the statement to fill: "The conversion of maleic anhydride to maleic acid occurs with [Select] acid and heat". The key chemical fact is that maleic anhydride undergoes hydrolysis to form maleic acid when water is present. This is an hydrolytic reaction where the anhydride ring is opened by water to yield the diacid. It is not an acid-catalyzed process in the sense of needing an acid catalyst; rather, water is the reactant that completes the hydrolysis, and heat often helps to drive the reaction to completion. Therefore:
- If the dropdown offers options like acid, base, heat, etc., choosing 'acid' would be incorrect because the reaction is not driven by an acid catalyst; the essential reactant is water. Choosing 'heat' alone is also incomplete because hydrolysis requires water; heat alone without water would not convert the anhydride to the acid. Choosing 'base and heat' would be inaccurate for the same reason: no base is involved in the standard hydrolysis of maleic anhydride to maleic acid. A correct framing would be 'water and heat' or simply 'water' as the reactant enabling hydrolysis with possible heating to speed the process.

Second part of the statement to fill: "conditions in the presence of [Select] water [Select] alcohol [Select] other." Here the decisive reagent is water. Water is the reactant that attacks the anhydride to yield maleic acid, and the presence of water is what enables hydrolysis. Alcohols or other solvents do not provide the hydrolytic cleavage necessary to form the diacid from the anhydride; while some alcohols can participate in esterification chemistry with anhydrides, the standard conversion to maleic acid specifically requires water. Thus:
- If the dropdown options include 'water', 'alcohol', and 'other', the correct single choice is 'water' for this blank. Selecting 'alcohol' or 'other' would misidentify the necessary reactant; those choices would not provide the hydrolytic pathway to maleic acid under typical conditions.

Putting it together in terms of common chemical understanding:
- The hydrolysis of maleic anhydride to maleic acid is driven by reaction with water, often facilitated by heating to increase rate. It is not driven by acid/base catalysis alone, nor by heat in the absence of water. Therefore, the most accurate selections are: first blank — water (potentially with heat as a condition), and second blank — water as the presence in the reaction mixture.

Summary of common pitfalls to avoid:
- Do not select 'acid' or 'base' as the sole driver; hydrolysis relies on water, not only acid/base catalysis.
- Do not claim 'heat alone' is enough; without water, there is no conversion to the diacid.
- Do not select 'alcohol' or 'other' for the presence condition in the second blank; those do not provide the hydrolytic path to maleic acid.

In practical lab terms, you would typically mix maleic anhydride with water (and apply heating as needed) to obtain maleic acid, confirming the role of water as the essential reactant in this hydrolysis process.

CHE 008B A01 SS1 2025 Pre-Lab Quiz - Expt II

The conversion of maleic anhydride to maleic acid occurs with [ Select ] acid and heat base and heat acid at room temperature heat alone no catalyst or energy required, (reaction is spontaneous) conditions in the presence of [ Select ] water alcohol other .

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