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Esters can be reduced to 1° alcohols using \(LiAlH_4\)

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    5919
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    Esters can be converted to 1o alcohols using LiAlH4, while sodium borohydride (\(NaBH_4\)) is not a strong enough reducing agent to perform this reaction.

    General Reaction

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    Example 1:
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    Mechanism

    1) Nucleophilic attack by the hydride

    3.jpg

    2) Leaving group removal

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    3) Nucleopilic attack by the hydride anion

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    4) The alkoxide is protonated

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    Contributors

    Prof. Steven Farmer (Sonoma State University)


    Esters can be reduced to 1° alcohols using \(LiAlH_4\) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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