Question 14.5: What is the product of the following oxidation reaction?
What is the product of the following oxidation reaction?
ANALYSIS The starting material is a primary alcohol, so it will be converted first to an aldehyde and then to a carboxylic acid. To find the structures of these products, first redraw the structure of the starting alcohol to identify the hydrogen atoms on the hydroxyl-bearing carbon:
Next, remove two hydrogens, one from the —OH group and one from the hydroxyl-bearing carbon. In their place, make a C=O double bond. This is the aldehyde product that forms initially. Finally, convert the aldehyde to a carboxylic acid by replacing the hydrogen in the —CH=O group with an —OH group.
<<Recall from Table 12.2 that a commonly used abbreviation for the aromatic group is Ph. Thus benzyl alcohol could also have been written as PhCH_2OH.
| table 12.2 Names of Straight-Chain Alkanes | ||
| Number of Carbons | Structure | Name |
| 1 | CH_4 | Methane |
| 2 | CH_3CH_3 | Ethane |
| 3 | CH_3CH_2CH_3 | Propane |
| 4 | CH_3CH_2CH_2CH_3 | Butane |
| 5 | CH_3CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_3 | Pentane |
| 6 | CH_3CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_3 | Hexane |
| 7 | CH_3CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_3 | Heptane |
| 8 | CH_3CH_2CHP_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_3 | Octane |
| 9 | CH_3CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_3 | Nonane |
| 10 | CH_3CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_2CH_3 | Decane |
