When acetic acid undergoes reduction with excess lithium aluminum hydride (LiAlH4), it primarily converts into ethanol. This is because lithium aluminum hydride is a strong reducing agent that can fully reduce carboxylic acids to their corresponding alcohols.
Reduction Process
The reaction can be summarized as follows:
- Acetic acid (CH3COOH) is reduced to ethanol (C2H5OH).
Key Points
Here are some important aspects to remember:
- LiAlH4 is a powerful reducing agent.
- It reduces carboxylic acids to primary alcohols.
Therefore, the correct answer is (B) ethanol.