Why does chloroform not show in an AgNO3 test?

The AgNO3 test is a qualitative analysis for ionic halides present in a solution or for a solid suspected of having a halide converted into an ionic form in a solution. Chloroform(CHCl3) is not a compound which has ionic chloride and does it hydro... read more

That’s because chloroform does not contain choride ions, just covalent, non ionizable carbon-chlorine bonds. It’s insoluble in water, but even if it were soluble, the carbon-chlorine bonds would not ionize. So, no AgCl precipitate. read more

There is no need to make this reaction go to completion. The silver nitrate test is sensitive enough to detect fairly small concentrations of halide ions. The mixture is acidified by adding dilute nitric acid. This prevents unreacted hydroxide ions reacting with the silver ions to give a confusing precipitate. Then silver nitrate solution is added. read more