The major product 'X' formed in the following reaction is:
(A)(see structure)
(B)(see structure)
(C)(see structure)✓ Correct
(D)(see structure)
Answer: (C)
Solution
Sodium borohydride is a gentle hydride donor: it reduces aldehydes and ketones to alcohols but leaves esters alone, and it does not touch an isolated carbon-carbon double bond. In the given molecule only the ketone is reduced, becoming a secondary alcohol, while the ester group and the ring double bond survive. The product is therefore the one in which the former ketone has become an −OH and everything else is intact.
JEE Main · 2019 · 10 Jan 2019 · Shift 1 · Single correct option