Alkyl cyanides undergo Stephen reduction to produce

Question

Alkyl cyanides undergo Stephen reduction to produce (A) aldehyde (B) secondary amine (C) primary amine (D) amide

Tardigrade Admin · Accepted Answer

An alkyl cyanide is dissolved in ether or better in ethyl formate or ethyl acetate, and reduced with

S n C l_{2}

and

H Cl

, and then steam distilled. This whole process is called Stephen reaction. In this process alkyl cyanide is reduced to aldehyde.

C H_{3} - C \equiv= N + 2 [H] + H Cl S n C l_{2} + H Cl ether

There is no analogous method for the preparation

Q. Alkyl cyanides undergo Stephen reduction to produce