Give reasons to support the answer: 

(A) Presence of Alpha hydrogen in aldehydes and ketones is essential for aldol condensation. 

Answer

  • The alpha hydrogen atoms are acidic in nature due to the presence of electron withdrawing carbonyl group. 
  • These can be easily removed by a base and the carbanion formed is resonance stabilised. 
  • The more stable a product is, the higher the spontaneity of the reaction is- meaning, the reaction is more likely to occur .

Therefore, the presence of Alpha hydrogen in aldehydes and ketones is essential for aldol condensation.

ALDOL CONDENSATION REACTION MECHANISM - Teachoo.jpg

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Davneet Singh

Davneet Singh has done his B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has been teaching from the past 14 years. He provides courses for Maths, Science and Computer Science at Teachoo