[sundrops]

alright well the products of a reaction are:

1 chlorobutane, 1 bromobutane, 2 waters and 1 ammonia

My question is: Why do I need to be quick when seperating my product mixture from the water?

chlorobutane and bromobutane have very little solubility in water so it's not like they would dissolve.

is it possible for the water to hydrolyze some of the product?

or is it possible for the product to decompose because the water might still contain acid?

is it even possible for these products to react with water?

any input would be greatly appreciated!

[ksr985]

it would help if you gave the actual reaction you were working on, and not just the products.

[sundrops]

I didn't think that it would be relevant, but sure!  

here's the full reaction:

2 C4H9OH + 1 NH4Cl + 1 NH4Br -> 1 C4H9Cl + 1 C4H9Br + 2 H20 + 2 NH3

[ksr985]

just guessing, but its possible that due to the ammonia formation, the medium becomes basic, and in presence of unreacted alcohol, you might get dehydrohalogenated products(olefins)
there also appears to be the possibility of the reverse reaction occuring in high concentration of the chloride/bromide, and product removal might be essential to prevent that.

Once again, just guessing.