Question

What is the major organic product obtained from the following sequence of reactions? PhCH2CHO PhCH2CH2CHO PhCH2CH2COOH PhCH2COOH

Answer 1

Answer:

PhCH2CH2COOH

Explanation:

This is a reaction of PhCH2CH2Br with KCN in the presence of H3O^+. The reaction first leads to the formation of PhCH2CH2CN.

We must recall that part of the properties of nitriles is that they can be converted to carboxylic acids in the presence of H3O^+. This is a common synthetic route for carboxylic acids.

Therefore, when the PhCH2CH2CN is now further reacted with H3O^+, the carboxylic acid PhCH2CH2COOH is formed as the major organic product of the reaction, hence the answer given above.