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Q. Lucas test is done for:

AFMCAFMC 2005Alcohols Phenols and Ethers

Solution:

Lucas test is used to distinguish between primary, secondary and tertiary alcohol. This test is based upon relative reactivites of various alcohols towards conc. $HCl$ in presence of $ZnCl_2$ (Lucas reagent).
$R- OH + HCl \xrightarrow{ ZnCl _{2}} R Cl + H _{2} O$
* If cloudiness appears immediately, tertiary alcohol is indicated.
* If cloudiness appears within five minutes, secondary alcohol is indicated.
* If cloudiness appears only upon heating primary alcohol is indicated.
Besides this Victor Meyer test is also used to differentiate between $p, s$ and $t$ alcohol.