Question

The hydrocarbon [A] adds one mole of hydrogen in the presence of a platinum catalyst to form n-hexane. When [A] is oxidised vigorously with `KMnO_(4)`, a single carboxylic acid containing three carbon atoms is isolated. Give the strucure of [A] and explain the reactions.

Answer 1

(i) Since the hydrocarbon [A] adds one mole of hydrogen in the presence of catalyst to give n-hexane, it must correspond to an alkene i.e., [A] is hexene.
(i) Since the alkene [A] upon vigorous oxidation gives a single carboxylic acid with three carbon atoms, this means that the alkene must be symmetrical i.e., [A] must be hex-3-ene.
The reactions involved are given :