Cannizzaro reaction:

Cannizzaro reaction , examples, mechanism, and its applications have been discussed here. The aldehydic compounds having no α-hydrogen atoms in presence of strong base undergo disproportionation to form an equal amount of corresponding alcohol and carboxylic acids. Such a reaction is called the Cannizzaro reaction . Some of the examples of the Cannizzaro reaction involve the reduction of benzaldehyde, formaldehyde, trimethyl acetaldehyde, etc. Cannizzaro’s reaction Aldehydes which do not contain α-hydrogen like HCHO, C6H5CHO,etc. undergo self oxidation and reduction on treatment with conc. The Cannizzaro reaction between two dissimilar aldehyde moelcuels (crossed Cannizzaro reaction ) may yield all possible products. However, when one of the aldehydes is formaldehyde the formate ion and the alcohol corresponding to the other aldehyde are formed exclusively. The Cannizzaro reaction is a redox reaction that involves the base-induced disproportionation of two molecules of a non-enolizable aldehyde to give a primary alcohol and a carboxylic acid. Learn about the mechanism, scope, variations and examples of this reaction, named after Stanislao Cannizzaro who discovered it in 1853.