This lesson delves into the concept of protection and deprotection of a functional group fundamental to synthetic organic chemistry. These phenomena are explained in the context of aliphatic and aromatic alcohols.
Protection
It defines a protecting group as the masking agent to make the more reactive species inert to a given set of conditions. This concept is depicted via the illustration of liquid flow through different outlets in an assembly of pipes. The analogy helps to understand the role...

Reduction is a simple strategy to convert a carbonyl group to a hydroxyl group. The three major pathways to reduce carbonyls to alcohols are catalytic hydrogenation, hydride reduction, and borane reduction.
Catalytic hydrogenation is similar to the reduction of an alkene or alkyne by adding H2 across the pi bond in the presence of transition metal catalysts like Raney Ni, Pd–C, Pt, or Ru. Aldehydes and ketones can be reduced by this method, often under mild to moderate heat (25–100°C) and...

Alcohols are organic compounds in which a hydroxy group is attached to a saturated carbon. Phenols are a class of alcohols containing a hydroxy group attached to an aromatic ring. The physical properties of the alcohols and phenols are influenced by hydrogen bonding due to the oxygen–hydrogen dipole in the hydroxy functional group and dispersion forces between alkyl or aryl regions of alcohol and phenol molecules.
Alcohols possess a higher boiling point than aliphatic hydrocarbons of similar...

Grignard reagents are one of the most commonly used reagents used to synthesize alcohols from carbonyl compounds. Grignard reagents are organomagnesium halides with a highly polar carbon–magnesium bond. Due to the partial ionic nature of the C–Mg bond, the carbon functions as a strong nucleophile and attacks electrophiles like carbonyl carbon.
Magnesium from the reagent coordinates with carbonyl oxygen, further reducing the carbonyl carbon's electron density. Thus, the...

Overview
The acid-catalyzed addition of water to the double bond of alkenes is a large-scale industrial method used to synthesize low-molecular-weight alcohols. An acidic atmosphere is required to allow the hydrogen in the water molecule to act as an electrophile and attack the double bond in an alkene. The addition of a proton to the double bond creates a carbocation intermediate. The proton preferentially bonds to the less substituted end of the double bond to create a more stable carbocation...

Overview
Alcohols can be synthesized from alkyl halides via nucleophilic substitution reactions. The highly polar carbon-halogen bond in the substrate makes halide a good leaving group.  The hydroxide ion or water can act as a nucleophile to take the place of halide and form an alcohol. The substitution reactions occur via two different reaction pathways, SN1 or SN2,  depending on the nature of carbon attached to the halide.
Primary alcohols are synthesized from primary alkyl halides, and the...