ABSTRACT

Several carbonyl compounds were discussed in Chapter 16, including aldehydes and ketones. So far, there has been virtually no mention of how such compounds are prepared. ere is a general class of reactions that involve the gain or loss of two electrons, but the structural changes in the product are often measured by whether hydrogen or oxygen is gained or lost. Such reactions are known as oxidation and reduction reactions. Several functional group exchange reactions are classied as oxidations, including the conversion of alcohols to ketones or aldehydes. e conversion of aldehydes or ketones back to alcohols is a reduction. is chapter will introduce a few important oxidation reactions and typical transformations associated with them. e oxidation reactions of alcohols are new to this chapter, but the discussion of the reactions that constitute an oxidation of alkenes is essentially a review (see Section 10.8). A discussion of reduction reactions is presented in Chapter 19.