How can aldehydes and ketones be prepared in the laboratory?

1 Answer
MeneerNask
Oct 11, 2016

They are both oxidation product of alcohols.

Explanation:

We make a distinction between primary and secundary alcohols:

A primary alcohol has its #-OH# group at the end of a carbon chain, so it looks like #-CH_2OH# (with two #H#'s at the same #C#)
After oxidation this will look like #-CH=O# and is called aldehyde , which can further oxidize to a carboxylic acid #-COOH#

A secundary alcohol has the #-OH# group in the middle of a chain, so the #C# has only one extra #H#: #-CHOH-#
After oxidation this will be a ketone : #-C=O#

How to make them in the lab: You can make use of #Cr(VI)# compounds, like potassium dichromate. In the case of making aldehydes, the amount must be carefully mastered, or too much of the carboxylic acid will form.

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