Question

Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate word(s) from those given in the brackets:

[+2, ethane, tetrahedral, square planar, zero, dry cell, nickel-cadmium cell, propane, Wolff-Kishner, Stephen, completely filled, incompletely filled, paramagnetic, diamagnetic]

When acetaldehyde is treated with hydrazine and KOH in a high boiling solvent glycol, ______ is formed and the reaction is known as ______ reduction.

Answer 1

When acetaldehyde is treated with hydrazine and KOH in a high boiling solvent glycol, ethane is formed and the reaction is known as Wolff-Kishner reduction.

Explanation:

• The reaction referenced is the Wolff-Kishner reduction. This reaction is a chemical process that transforms a carbonyl group (C=O) in an aldehyde or ketone into a methylene group (CH₂) under basic circumstances, utilizing hydrazine (NH₂NH₂) and a strong base such as KOH in a high-boiling solvent like ethylene glycol.
• Acetaldehyde possesses the chemical formula CH₃CHO. The reduction of the carbonyl group in acetaldehyde yields ethane, represented as CH₃CH₃. The oxygen is eliminated and substituted with two hydrogen atoms.