Let's start with cross aldol

Chemistry Level 3

A bit of info

A cross aldol reaction is a aldol reaction between 2 different aldehydes (or even ketones).

The situation you are stuck with

You have n n aldehydes (all of them D I S T I N C T DISTINCT ) with you on your lab desk, and a large container having d i l . dil. N a O H NaOH in front of you. Without your knowledge you pour all the n n aldehydes into the large container with the alkali.

Lets make it hypothetical

n = 1000 n=1000

Now you have to find the no. of all possible C R O S S CROSS aldol condensation products that takes place between these aldehydes.

Note: DO NOT consider stereoisomers

all substituents have atleast one alpha-hydrogen.

Feel this is easier , then try this problem


The answer is 999000.

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2 solutions

Choose the carbanion for the nucleophilic attack in n n ways. The aldehyde to be attacked can be chosen in n 1 n-1 ways as we require cross-aldol products. So, total number of cross-aldol products is given by n ( n 1 ) \boxed{ n(n-1) } For n = 1000 n=1000 , the answer comes out to be 999000 \boxed{ 999000 }

Vignesh S
Apr 12, 2016

Relevant wiki: Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion - Generalized

Now, since we have n n aldehydes, the no. of distinct carbanions are n n . Out of these select one carbanion in ( n 1 ) \dbinom{n}{1} ways and also choose one aldehyde on which it attacks in ( n 1 ) \dbinom{n}{1} ways. Since both these events must happen by fundamental counting principle of multiplication the total no.of aldol condensation products are

( n 1 ) \dbinom{n}{1} ( n 1 ) \dbinom{n}{1} [Its not ( n 2 ) \dbinom{n}{2} because the order between the aldehydes matters ] ways. But there are n n aldol (non-cross) products. Therefore by Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion the total no. ways is ( n 1 ) \dbinom{n}{1} ( n 1 ) \dbinom{n}{1} - n n . Substituting n = 1000 n=1000 , we get the above answer.

Or we can say nC2*2

Arunava Das - 3 years, 4 months ago

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