what carbonyl compounds would you reduce to obtain the following alcohols
Strategy Identify the alcohol as primary, secondary, or tertiary. A primary alcohol can be prepared by reduction of an aldehyde, an ester, or a carboxylic acid; a secondary alcohol can be prepared by reduction of a Ketone; and a tertiary alcohol cannot be prepared by reduction
Solution (a) The target molecule is a secondary alcohol, which can only be prepared by reduction of a ketone. Either NaBH4 or LiAlH4 can be used.
(b) the target molcule is a primary alcohol, which can be prepared by reduction of an aldehyde, an ester, or a carboxylic acid. LiAlH4 is needed for the ester and carboxylic acid reductions.