What is Clemmensen Reduction in organic chemistry?
Asked by Siddhartha Chandrashekhar · 2 years ago
Can you explain the concept of Clemmensen Reduction and where it is used in organic chemistry?
1 Answer
Clemmensen Reduction is a chemical reaction used to reduce ketones or aldehydes to alkanes using zinc amalgam (Zn(Hg)) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). This reaction is particularly useful for compounds that are sensitive to basic conditions, as it is carried out in acidic medium.
Reaction:
R-CO-R' + 4[H] → R-CH2-R'
Here, R-CO-R' represents a ketone or aldehyde, and the product is an alkane (R-CH2-R').
Example:
Acetophenone (C6H5COCH3) can be reduced to ethylbenzene (C6H5CH2CH3) using Clemmensen Reduction.
NEET Faculty · 2 years ago
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