why is it more difficult to test for presence of chloride in organic compounds than inorganic compounds?

Question

inorganic compounds like HCL. .

Answer 1

Ionic compounds disassociate in water to cations and anions. Ionic chloride compounds form the Cl- anion in water. Adding silver nitrate solution to the solution containing Cl- forms the AgCl precipitate - which is the test for Cl-. All you need to do is dissolve the ionic compound in water and add AgNO3 solution.

Organic chloride compounds are not bound via ionic bonds and are not water soluble and do not form the inorganic Cl- ion in water solution. Adding AgNO3 solution will not result in AgCl formation.

You can do a Na fusion where you react the organic with Na metal forming the inorganic Cl- but this is more work and you have to be careful with the reactivity of Na metal.