General Methods of Preparation of Aldehydes and Ketones

This section groups the textbook's synthetic routes to carbonyl compounds into four sets: (A) four general methods that give EITHER an aldehyde or a ketone depending on the substrate (oxidation/dehydrogenation of alcohols, ozonolysis of alkenes, hydration of alkynes, and dry distillation of calcium carboxylate salts); (B) three methods specific to making ALDEHYDES selectively, even from an acid derivative or a nitrile, without over-reduction to the alcohol (Rosenmund reduction, Stephen's reaction, and selective DIBAL-H reduction of nitriles); (C) three routes specific to BENZALDEHYDE, reflecting its industrial importance (the Etard reaction, the Gattermann-Koch reaction, and the commercial side-chain-chlorination route from toluene); and (D) two routes specific to KETONES, particularly aromatic ones (reaction of an acid chloride with dialkyl cadmium, and Friedel-Crafts acylation for aryl ketones). Recognising which of these four sub-groups a given r …