What ketone or aldehyde would be reduced to produce each alcohol, respectively:
a. 3,3-Dimethyl butan-2-ol
b. 3-Methyl butan-1-ol
c. Benzyl alcohol
See benzaldye + H2 ==>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzyl_alcohol
See 3-methyl butan-1-al
See 3,3-dimethyl butan-2-one
To determine the ketone or aldehyde that would be reduced to produce each alcohol, we need to consider the process of reduction using a reducing agent such as sodium borohydride (NaBH4) or lithium aluminum hydride (LiAlH4).
a. 3,3-Dimethyl butan-2-ol:
To produce 3,3-dimethylbutan-2-ol, the corresponding ketone or aldehyde needs to have a ketone group (C=O) at the second carbon position (numbered from the left, where the -OH group will be added). The structure of 3,3-dimethylbutan-2-ol suggests that the starting compound is a ketone rather than an aldehyde because the presence of a carbon-carbon bond next to the hydroxyl group implies that the carbonyl group (C=O) must be in the middle of the carbon chain. Therefore, the ketone that would be reduced is 3,3-dimethylbutan-2-one.
b. 3-Methyl butan-1-ol:
The presence of the "-ol" suffix indicates that the compound is an alcohol, which means a hydroxyl (-OH) group is present. To produce 3-methylbutan-1-ol, the corresponding ketone or aldehyde should have a ketone group (C=O) at the first carbon position (numbered from the left, where the -OH group will be added). Based on the name, we can infer that the starting compound is an aldehyde since butan-1-al suggests an aldehyde with four carbon atoms. Therefore, the aldehyde that would be reduced is 3-methylbutanal.
c. Benzyl alcohol:
Again, the presence of the "-ol" suffix indicates that the compound is an alcohol. In this case, the compound name directly tells us that the starting compound is an alcohol, benzyl alcohol. Therefore, there is no need for reduction as benzyl alcohol is already an alcohol.
Remember that the specific reduction reagent used can determine whether a ketone or aldehyde is reduced and to what extent. Additionally, other reduction reactions may be possible, but for the given examples, these are the appropriate starting compounds.