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1. How could you use IR to show that the reduction of benzophenone to benzhydrol

ID: 1041985 • Letter: 1

Question

1. How could you use IR to show that the reduction of benzophenone to benzhydrol is complete? 2. How could you use NMR to show that the reduction of benzophenone to benzhydrol is complete? 4. "Green Chemistry" seeks to eliminate both the use of hazardous reagents/solvents and minimize the generation of hazardous products. Green Chemistry minimizes environmental impact while maximizing safety. Describe what aspects of the reduction procedures used in this experiment contribute to their "greenness".

Explanation / Answer

1. Th difference in functional group in the two compounds is that benzophenone has a C=O group and benzhydrol has C-OH group. THey can be distinguished by IR spectroscopy as C=O give s a stretching frequncy of 1725 /cm and C-O gives a spectrum at 1250 /cm.

2. The OH proton present in benzhydrol is absent in benzophenone. It givesa strong peak at 9-10 ppm. If the whole mixture shows this peak, then we can be sure that all the benzophenone has been consumed.

4. For green experiment, Copper powder was used as reductant. The by-products produced in this way were far less hazardous to the environment and so it is a greener way for the conversion.