Suggest an appropriate reducing reagent for the following substrates and predict the product of the reactions :
(a) 2-hexanone
(b) ethyl 4-nitrobenzoate (reduction of the nitro group)
(c) hexanal
Would NaBH4 work for all of them ? Please help !
To suggest an appropriate reducing reagent for each of the substrates and predict the products of the reactions, we need to consider the specific functional groups present in each compound.
(a) 2-hexanone:
2-hexanone is a ketone, which can be reduced to an alcohol. One commonly used reducing agent for ketones is sodium borohydride (NaBH4). NaBH4 can reduce ketones to the corresponding secondary alcohols. Therefore, NaBH4 can be used to reduce 2-hexanone to 2-hexanol.
(b) Ethyl 4-nitrobenzoate (reduction of the nitro group):
Ethyl 4-nitrobenzoate contains a nitro group (-NO2). To reduce the nitro group to an amine (-NH2), a stronger reducing agent is required. Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is not strong enough to directly reduce nitro groups. Instead, a more powerful reducing agent such as iron and hydrochloric acid (Fe/HCl) or tin and hydrochloric acid (Sn/HCl) can be used. These reagents can reduce the nitro group to an amine. Therefore, NaBH4 is not suitable to reduce the nitro group in ethyl 4-nitrobenzoate.
(c) Hexanal:
Hexanal is an aldehyde, which can be reduced to the corresponding primary alcohol. Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is a suitable reducing agent for aldehydes. NaBH4 can reduce aldehydes to primary alcohols. Therefore, NaBH4 can be used to reduce hexanal to hexanol.
In summary, NaBH4 can be used for the reduction of 2-hexanone and hexanal, but not for the reduction of the nitro group in ethyl 4-nitrobenzoate. For the reduction of the nitro group, stronger reducing agents like Fe/HCl or Sn/HCl are needed.