ABSTRACT
This chapter gives a suggested protocol for the chemical tests used in the identification of organic compounds. It gives the major organic families and their most important confirmatory chemical tests. It lists some simple chemical tests which will indicate the presence or absence of a given inorganic cation or anion. The chapter provides a summary of the common tests for cations, primarily in aqueous solution. The cations are grouped according to the usual convention of reactivity to a set of common reagents. The chapter lists the most important organic reagents used for precipitating various inorganic species from solution. Many of these reagents are subject to the serious disadvantage caused by lack of selectivity. The selectivity of some of the reagents can be controlled to a certain extent by adjustment of pH, reagent concentrations, and the use of masking reagents.
