Oxidisation of methanoic acid by kmno4

[timetraveller123]

i was reading through my alkene notes and it said for strong oxidation of alkenes in acidic conditions results in formation of ketone , carboxylic acid or carbondioxide and water. But my notes doesn't detail the mechanism so i found some videos explaining how ketones and carboxylic acid may be formed . and from what i understand if the oxidation process results in formation of methanoic acid , it is further oxidised into CO2 and water. many website just state this . i am curious why it only happens to methanoic acid and not like ethanoic acid . Some websites said it is because of the hydrogen being the r group but if that is true then why is ethandioic acid also oxidised by kmno4 into CO2 and water. I am really confused. it would be really helpful if someone could explain this or could link to a website with the mechanism(it helps me to understand better). I am sorry if i don't make sense.

 

[Borek]

Methanoic acid is a bit similar in its properties to aldehydes (look at the molecule, can you see the -CHO group?)

I believe oxalic acid is a very specific case, not necessarily following rules that hold for most organic compounds.

 

[timetraveller123]

thats the thing i haven't learned about aldehydes yet many websites said the same thing but then why does it work for ethandioc acid it does not have coh group

 

[Borek]

You do understand that oxalic acid and ethanedioic acid are the same substance and I already addressed your question?

 

[timetraveller123]

ya i do but i don't quite get what you mean by that statement as in why that exception for oxalic acidedit :
is there anywhere i can look up for the mechanism of this oxidisation

 

[DrDu]

It certainly is possible to decompose oxalic acid into CO and CO2. That's a classic method to produce CO in the laboratory. It is also possible to oxidize oxalic acid to CO2. That is basically the mechanism behind chemiluminescent lightsticks.

 

[snorkack]

Somewhat specific but I wouldn't say "very specific".
Under the oxidation conditions like KMnO₄, most C-C bonds are not oxidized. So CH₃COOH is not oxidized. However, some C-C bonds are weakened - HOOC-COOH among them, but I remember there are others. Don't quite remember which others, though.