Question

How many compounds with molecular formula c5h10o may be reduced with nabh4 to a primary alcohol​

Answer 1

There are 4 possible compounds with given formula that can be reduced using NaBH4 to a primary alcohol.

1) Only Ketones and Aldehydes can be reduced to Alcohols by NaBH4.

2) For reduction to primary Alcohol, the given compound should be an terminal aldehyde.

3) The possible compounds are:

   a) CH3 - C(CH3)2- CHO

   b) CH3- (CH2)3 -CHO

   c) CH(CH3)2 - CH2-CHO

   d) CH3- CH2-CH(CHO)- CH3.

All these aldehydes are terminal aldehydes and hence can be reduced by NaBH4 to a primary alcohol