Oxidation of a secondary alcohol with Cr2O7^2-/H+ under reflux yields which product?

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Multiple Choice

Oxidation of a secondary alcohol with Cr2O7^2-/H+ under reflux yields which product?

Oxidation of an alcohol with acidified dichromate under reflux removes hydrogen from the carbon bearing the OH and forms a carbonyl. For secondary alcohols, that carbon already has two carbon substituents, so oxidation produces a ketone (R-CO-R′) rather than an aldehyde or carboxylic acid. Primary alcohols would be oxidized first to aldehydes and can go further to carboxylic acids under these conditions, while tertiary alcohols don’t oxidize under these same conditions. An example is isopropanol becoming acetone.

Oxidation of an alcohol with acidified dichromate under reflux removes hydrogen from the carbon bearing the OH and forms a carbonyl. For secondary alcohols, that carbon already has two carbon substituents, so oxidation produces a ketone (R-CO-R′) rather than an aldehyde or carboxylic acid. Primary alcohols would be oxidized first to aldehydes and can go further to carboxylic acids under these conditions, while tertiary alcohols don’t oxidize under these same conditions. An example is isopropanol becoming acetone.

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