Question

What is the result of oxidation of ethyl alcohol?

Answer 1

Oxidation of ethyl alcohol, in the presence of a strong oxidizing agent such as potassium dichromate results in the formation of acetic acid:

$\underset{\mathrm{Ethanol}}{{\mathrm{C}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_5\mathrm{OH}}\underset{{\mathrm{K}}_2{\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7/{\mathrm{H}}^{+}}{\overset{\left[\mathrm{O}\right]}{\to }}\underset{\mathrm{Ethanal}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{CHO}}\stackrel{\left[\mathrm{O}\right]}{\to }\underset{\mathrm{Ethanoic}\mathrm{acid}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}}$