Question

Aldehydes are readily oxidised to yield carboxylic acids but ketones are inert to oxidation. Which is the most likely explanation regarding this difference in reactivity?

• A. Aldehydes have a proton attached to the carbonyl that is abstracted during oxidation. Ketones lack this proton and so, cannot oxidised.
• B. Reducing agents like $HNO _3$ are sterically hindered by ketone's carbonyl carbon.
• C. Aldehydes and ketones are of similar hybridisation.
• D. The rate of the forward oxidation reaction is equal to the rate of the reverse reduction reaction in ketones.

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

Abstraction of $H$-atom, attached to carbonyl group in an aldehyde, is much easier than the abstraction from bulkier alkyl group attached to carbonyl group in a ketone.