Question

A compound, containing only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, has a molecular weight of 44. On complete oxidation, it is converted into a compound of molecular weight 60. The original compound is

• A. an aldehyde
• B. an acid
• C. an alcohol
• D. an ether

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

On complete oxidation, the obtained compound shows increase in molecular weight by 16. It means only one oxygen atom is added here. This condition is fulfilled by only aldehyde which on oxidation gives acid

$RCHO\stackrel{[O]}{⟶}RCOOH$

Hence, original compound must be

$\underset{\text{Mol. wt. 44}}{C{H}_{3}CHO}\stackrel{[O]}{⟶}\underset{\text{Mol. wt. 60}}{C{H}_{3}COOH}$