Question

What is the action of hydrogen cyanide in basic medium on
(i) butanone (ii) 2, 4—dichloro - benzaldehyde?

Answer 1

1)Cyanide ion from hydrogen cyanide acts as a nucleophile and undergoes nucleophillic addition reaction to form the corresponding cyanohydrin.

2)2,4 dichlorobenzaldehyde will also undergo nucleophillic addition reaction with hydrogen cyanide (cyanide ions) to form the corresponding cyanohydrin.

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