Sciencemadness Discussion Board

oxidation of secondary alcohols

morsagh - 15-4-2014 at 12:06

if i want to oxidize secondary alcohol to ketone and i want to use KMnO4 should i add something like acid or base?

packetforger - 15-4-2014 at 13:17

Acid. H2SO4 ideally, but dilute.

I am not sure that acidified permanganate is suitable for oxidation of 2o alcohols to ketones, as I normally used acidified dichromate, but hey - its worth a shot!

[Edited on 15-4-2014 by packetforger]

Metacelsus - 15-4-2014 at 18:04

Permanganate is not picky about what it oxidizes. It will work (even without acid, although not as well as with acid), but watch out for other oxidizable functional groups.