Question

Ethyl alcohol on oxidation with acidified potassium permanganate results in_______.

Answer 1

Oxidation of alcohols

• The oxidation of alcohol is an important reaction in organic chemistry. Primary alcohols can be oxidized to form aldehydes and carboxylic acids.
• Secondary alcohols can be oxidized to give ketones.
• Tertiary alcohols, in contrast, cannot be oxidized without breaking the molecule’s C–C bonds. It is an oxidant, and it oxidizes the alcohol as far as possible without breaking carbon-carbon bonds.
• An oxidizing agent (also called an oxidant) is a reactant that brings about the oxidation of the other reactant in a chemical reaction and itself undergoes reduction.
• Conversely, a reducing agent is a reactant which brings about the reduction of the other reactant and itself undergoes oxidation.
• When ethanol is heated with alkaline potassium permanganate then it produces ethanoic acid due to complete oxidation.
• Here, the pink colour of the solution vanishes due to the strong oxidizing agent as potassium permanganate.
• $$\begin{gathered} {\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+\mathrm{alk}{\mathrm{KMnO}}_4\left(\mathrm{l}\right)\to {\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right) \\ \mathrm{ethanol}\mathrm{potassium}\mathrm{permaganate}\mathrm{ethanoic}\mathrm{acid} \end{gathered}$$

Therefore, ethyl alcohol is the primary alcohol on oxidation with acidified potassium permanganate resulting in an ethanoic acid