Organic Chemistry : Using Other Organic Reducing Agents
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Using Other Organic Reducing Agents
Which of the following is not a reducing agent?
is not a reducing agent; peroxides (compounds with the formula R-O-O-R) are oxidizing agents. A very common peroxide is sodium peroxide .
All of the other listed compounds are reducing agents.
Example Question #1 : Using Other Organic Reducing Agents
Which reagents reduce alkynes to trans alkenes?
Meta-Chloroperoxybenzoic acid
produces a trans-alkene from an alkyne whereas produces a cis-alkene. reduces an alkyne all the way down to an alkane. is a strong oxidizing agent.
Example Question #31 : Redox Chemistry
Identify the major product of the pictured reaction. Assume workup.
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
This is a standard organolithium reaction.
The organolithium product can be thought of as a strong nucleophile. The carbon steals an electron from the lithium to create . From there, the highly reactive carbo-anion is free to attack the ketone at the site of its carbon to form a tertiary alcohol on the cyclohexane.
Example Question #1 : Using Other Organic Reducing Agents
Which of the following compounds is not an oxidizing agent?
is the only answer choice that is not an oxidizing agent. In fact, it is a reducing agent because of the lack of oxygen atoms present. This compound adds hydrogen atoms to a compound, thereby reducing it.
Example Question #2 : Using Other Organic Reducing Agents
Which of the following would be the product of the reaction given?
Alkenes can be reduced in the presence of and a metal catalyst like platinum to hydrogenate the alkene to give a saturated alkane. The reaction occurs in a heterogeneous solution rather than a homogenous solution. It occurs on the presence of a solid surface of the metal catalyst.
Note that the three carbon-carbon double bonds in the aromatic ring in the presence of the reducing agent does not get reduced because they are extremely stable due to resonance.
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