Oxidation of aldehydes

Oxidation of aldehydes converts the aldehyde group into a carboxylic acid or carboxylate. It can be carried out with oxidants ranging from air and metal salts to chromium reagents.

Aldehyde hydrate: A geminal diol formed when water adds to an aldehyde’s carbonyl carbon. Many aqueous oxidants react with this hydrated form rather than the carbonyl itself.
Tollens' test: A qualitative chemical test in which aldehydes reduce silver(I) to metallic silver. It uses aldehyde oxidation to distinguish many aldehydes from ketones.
Ketone: An organic compound with a carbonyl carbon bonded to two carbon groups. Ordinary ketones resist the mild oxidation conditions that readily convert aldehydes.
Aldehyde: An organic compound containing a terminal carbonyl group bonded to hydrogen and a carbon substituent. Aldehydes supply the carbonyl carbon that becomes the carboxyl group.
Tollens' reagent: An ammoniacal silver(I) complex that oxidizes aldehydes while depositing metallic silver. Its reduction to silver provides a visible test alongside aldehyde oxidation.
Benedict's test: A test that detects reducing sugars through reduction of copper(II) in alkaline solution. Reducing sugars can expose an aldehyde or related reactive form that undergoes oxidation.
Oxidation of primary alcohols: The conversion of a primary alcohol first to an aldehyde and, under stronger conditions, to a carboxylic acid. Primary alcohol oxidation can pass through the aldehyde stage before reaching the same acid product.
Carbonyl group: A functional group consisting of a carbon atom double-bonded to oxygen. Its carbon atom is the site transformed during aldehyde oxidation.
Fehling's solution: An alkaline copper(II) reagent that oxidizes many aliphatic aldehydes to carboxylates. Copper(II) reduction accompanies aldehyde oxidation in this classic aqueous reaction.
Glucose oxidation: The conversion of glucose’s aldehyde-bearing form into oxidized products, including gluconic acid. It is a biologically and analytically familiar example of aldehyde-group oxidation.

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