How many moles of an alcohol are needed to react with 1 mole of an aldehyde to form a hemiacetal?

A. 1.5 moles
B. 2 moles
C. 3 moles
D. 3.5 moles
E. 1 mole



Answer :

To determine how many moles of an alcohol are required to react with 1 mole of an aldehyde to form a hemiacetal, let's proceed step by step.

1. Understand the reaction:
- A hemiacetal is formed by the reaction of an aldehyde with an alcohol. The general reaction can be represented as:
[tex]\[ \text{RCHO (aldehyde) + R'OH (alcohol) → RCH(OH)OR' (hemiacetal)} \][/tex]

2. Mole-to-mole ratio:
- The formation of a hemiacetal involves a 1:1 mole ratio. This means that 1 mole of an aldehyde reacts with 1 mole of an alcohol to produce 1 mole of the hemiacetal.

3. Analyze the requirement:
- The question asks how many moles of alcohol are needed to react with 1 mole of an aldehyde.

4. Conclusion:
- Since the mole ratio for the reaction is 1:1, 1 mole of an alcohol is needed to react with 1 mole of an aldehyde to form a hemiacetal.

Therefore, the number of moles of alcohol needed is:

[tex]\[ \boxed{1 \text{ mole}} \][/tex]

Hence, the correct answer is 1 mole.