Home > Organic Chemistry > Quick Introduction of Structures

Can primary alcohols be oxidized to form either aldehydes or ketones?

Answer 1

No, primary alcohols can only be oxidized to produce aldehydes or carboxylic acids. For example, you can use PCC in dichloromethane to produce an aldehyde, or you can use chromic acid to produce a carboxylic acid.

Since a ketone by definition needs a carbonyl oxygen on a non-terminal carbon and a primary alcohol needs a hydroxyl oxygen on a terminal carbon, only secondary alcohols can be oxidized to form ketones.

Refer to this response for more details.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Answer 2

Ryan Andrews

Yes, primary alcohols can be oxidized to form aldehydes. Further oxidation can convert aldehydes to carboxylic acids. However, primary alcohols cannot be directly oxidized to ketones under typical conditions.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.