Depending on whether you need to oxidize a primary alcohol to an aldehyde or a carboxylic acid, you can use either pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) or Jones reagent (a solution of chromium trioxide, CrO3 in aqueous sulfuric acid):     Notice …Read more

Acetals are organic compounds in which a carbon atom is bonded to two alkoxy groups (-OR).     They don’t look much like a carbonyl compound, so why do we need to talk about them in the chapter on aldehydes …Read more

In the previous post, we talked about Friedel-Crafts alkylation – a classic reaction for attaching alkyl groups to benzene rings. A similar reaction is used for adding an acyl group to the aromatic ring, thus making a ketone. This is …Read more

Carboxylic acid derivatives practice problems This is a comprehensive practice problem covering most of the nucleophilic acyl substitution reactions of carboxylic acids and their derivatives. Here is the content of this 1-hour video for the practice problem solutions: The detailed …Read more

In the previous post, we discussed the principle and mechanism of the Wittig reaction. Go over those if you need to, and in the following practice problem, we will work on proposing a synthesis for Wittig reagents as well as …Read more

We discussed the mechanisms for the hydrolysis of acetals, imines, and enamine to aldehydes and ketones in the previous posts: Acetal Hydrolysis Mechanism Imine and Enamine Hydrolysis Mechanism So, here is a set of practice problems you can work on …Read more

Aldehydes and ketones have higher priority than all the other functional groups we covered so far. Therefore, they define the parent chain and give the corresponding suffix. All the other groups standing below in the functional group priority table are …Read more

Aldehydes and ketones react with alcohols under acidic conditions to form acetals. Acetals are tetrahedral compounds where two alkoxy (OR) groups are bonded to the central carbon atom.     The mechanism of the reaction is similar to what we …Read more

Aldehydes and ketones react with water in the presence of an acid or a base, forming a Hydrate – Geminal Diol:     The addition of water to most aldehydes and ketones is unfavorable, and the equilibrium is shifted mainly …Read more

In the previous post, we learned about the Friedel–Crafts alkylation and discussed its mechanism and limitations. In Friedel–Crafts acylation, aromatic compounds are reacted with an acyl halide to prepare an aryl ketone:     The electrophile in this reaction is …Read more