Carbon moves from the atmosphere to the land, ocean, and life through biological, chemical, geological and physical processes in a cycle called the carbon cycle. Because some carbon gases are greenhouse gases, changes in the carbon cycle that put more carbon in the atmosphere also warm Earth’s climate.
The reaction begins with a hydride nucleophile reacting with the ester carbonyl carbon to form the tetrahedral intermediate.
The carbonyl reforms to produce an aldehyde with the loss of the alkoxide ion.
The resulting aldehyde undergoes a subsequent reaction with a hydride nucleophile to form another tetrahedral intermediate. The carbonyl is not able to reform, because there are no stable leaving groups.
Therefore, the tetrahedral intermediate is protonated to produce a primary alcohol.
