How could you obtain a carboxylic acid from oxidation of an alcohol and what type of alcohol would be suitable?
Primary alcohol is the only alcohol which can fully oxidise as it first oxidises to an aldehyde and this can be further oxidised to a carboxylic acid. This is not possible with 20 alcohols as they oxidise to ketones which cannot be further oxidised due to the lack of a place for the oxygen to bond. 30 cannot oxidise whatsoever.To obtain a carboxylic acid from a primary alcohol you must add oxidising agent for example potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7/H+ ). Then place this solution under reflux and the resulting product will be a carboxylic acid.
