See image — Alcohols Phenols and Ethers Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

Periodic acid (HIO4) cleaves vicinal diol (1,2-diol), alpha-hydroxy carbonyl, and alpha-dicarbonyl systems. Each C-C bond between two adjacent carbons bearing OH, =O, or CHO is cleaved oxidatively, converting each carbon to its corresponding carbonyl fragment: a primary alcohol gives HCHO, a secondary alcohol gives RCHO or RCOR', an aldehyde carbon (CHO) gives HCO2H (formic acid), and a ketone carbon (C=O) gives CO2. Option (d) structure: CHO-CO-CH(OH)-CH2OH Carbon 1: CHO (aldehyde) Carbon 2: C=O (ketone/alpha-keto) Carbon 3: CH-OH (secondary alcohol) Carbon 4: CH2-OH (primary alcohol) Periodic acid cleaves between each pair of adjacent oxidized carbons: - Cleavage between C1(CHO) and C2(C=O): C1 aldehyde gives HCO2H (formic acid); C2 keto gives CO2 - Cleavage between C2(C=O) and C3(CHOH): already cleaved above - Cleavage between C3(CHOH) and C4(CH2OH): C3 secondary alcohol gives HCHO; C4 primary alcohol gives HCHO So products: HCO2H + CO2 + HCHO + HCHO = 2HCHO + CO2 + HCO2H. This matches exactly. Why other options fail: (a) Glycerol (HOCH2-CH(OH)-CH2OH): gives HCHO + HCHO + HCHO = 2HCHO + HCHO (3 HCHO), not matching. (b) OHC-CH(OH)-CH(OH)-CH2OH: gives HCO2H + HCHO + HCHO + HCHO = HCO2H + 3HCHO, not matching. (c) CH2OH-CO-CH(OH)-CH(OH)-CH2OH: gives HCHO + CO2 + HCHO + HCHO + HCHO = 4HCHO + CO2, not matching. Therefore, the correct answer is D.