Concept:Secondary alcohols oxidize specifically to ketones, keeping the carbon skeleton fully intact.
Formula:$$ \text{CH}_3\text{-CH(OH)-}\text{CH}_3 \xrightarrow{[O]} \text{CH}_3\text{-CO-}\text{CH}_3 + \text{H}_2\text{O} $$
Solution:- "Secondary propyl alcohol" is another name for isopropyl alcohol (2-propanol).
- It is a 3-carbon chain with the -OH group on the middle carbon.
- Removing the hydrogen from the -OH and the alpha-carbon creates a C=O double bond in the middle of the chain.
- This yields propanone, whose common trivial name is acetone.
Why other options are incorrect:Acetaldehyde and ethyl alcohol have only two carbons (carbon-carbon cleavage does not occur under mild oxidation). Normal propyl alcohol is the primary isomer of the reactant, not an oxidation product.
Quality & Fidelity Assurance:
Every question on BeambePrep is rigorously curated against the official PMDC syllabus with zero filler, zero out-of-syllabus content, and zero typos. When an authentic past paper originally contained a historical mistake or ambiguity from the examining board (such as UHS or NUMS), BeambePrep faithfully reflects the original paper while detailing the nuance and scientific consensus in the autopsy above.