Question

What happens when ethanol is oxidized with chromic anhydride in glacial ethanoic acid?

Answer 1

We need to know that the ethanol is also known as ethyl alcohol which is a chemical compound having the formula$C{H_3} - C{H_2} - OH$ or ${C_2}{H_5}OH$. This is a volatile liquid and does not have any color. The chromic anhydride is an acidic anhydride of a chromic acid having the formula, $Cr{O_3}$. This is a strong oxidizing agent which is not soluble in organic solvents. And the glacial acetic acid is an anhydrous form of the acetic acid. And this is a chemical compound having the formula, $C{H_3}COOH$.

Complete answer:
When the ethanol is reacted with chromic anhydrous in the presence of glacial ethanoic acid, there is a formation of ethanal which is also known as acetaldehyde. And the product is formed by the partial oxidation reaction of ethanol. The reaction can be written as,
$C{H_3}C{H_2}OH\xrightarrow[{C{H_3}COOH}]{{Cr{O_3}}}C{H_3}CHO$
Here, the chromic anhydride oxidizes ethanol to ethanal by the elimination of water. The hydroxyl group of ethanol is replaced by the aldehydic group. The chromic anhydride and the glacial ethanoic acid is a weak oxidizing agent. Therefore, there will not take place any further oxidation reaction.

Note:
When the ethanol is oxidized in the presence of chromic anhydride and glacial ethanoic acid, there is a formation of ethanal, which is an aldehyde. The conversion of alcohol to an aldehyde is known as partial oxidation reaction. The ethanal is a chemical compound having the formula, $C{H_3}CHO$. This is mainly used for the preparation of $1 -$butanol, perfumes, ethyl acetate, dyes, and other chemical compounds.