Exams › NEET › Chemistry

The cyanohydrin of a compound on hydrolysis gives an optically active α-hydroxy acid. The compound is

1. Diethyl ketone
2. Formaldehyde
3. Acetaldehyde
4. Acetone

Correct answer: Acetaldehyde

Solution

Acetaldehyde reacts with HCN to form a cyanohydrin, which upon hydrolysis gives lactic acid, an optically active α-hydroxy acid. Other options do not lead to optically active products.

Related NEET Chemistry questions

• An aldehyde on oxidation gives
• The percentage of formaldehyde in formalin is:
• The addition compound obtained by treating propanone with hydrogen cyanide is:
• Carboxylic acids dissolve in NaHCO3 and evolve CO2 gas but phenols do not.
• Which of the following compounds undergoes oxidation to give acetic acid?
• The relative reactivities of acyl compounds towards nucleophilic substitution are in the order of:

⚔️ Practice NEET Chemistry free + battle 1v1 →