Concept:Catalytic reduction involves adding molecular hydrogen (\( H_2 \)) across a double bond in the presence of a metal catalyst (like Ni, Pd, or Pt).
Formula:$$ >C=O + H_2 \xrightarrow{Ni/Pt} >CH-OH $$
Solution:- The catalytic hydrogenation of the highly polarized carbonyl (\( C=O \)) double bond results in the addition of one hydrogen to the carbon and one to the oxygen.
- This transforms the carbonyl group into a hydroxyl group (\( -OH \)).
- Aldehydes reduce to primary alcohols, and ketones reduce to secondary alcohols. Thus, the general product class is Alcohols.
Why other options are incorrect:Carboxylic acids are products of oxidation, not reduction. Alkanes require severe deoxygenating conditions (like Clemmensen or Wolff-Kishner reduction), not standard catalytic hydrogenation.
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.