The vigorous oxidation of pentan-2-one with concentrated yields a mixture of two distinct carboxylic — Aldehydes Ketones and Carboxylic Acids Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

Pentan-2-one is $CH_3-CO-CH_2CH_2CH_3$. Popoff's rule dictates the carbonyl group ($C=O$) stays with the smaller alkyl group ($CH_3$). The fragment retaining the carbonyl carbon becomes Acetic acid ($CH_3COOH$). The molar mass of acetic acid is $(2 \times 12) + (4 \times 1) + (2 \times 16) = 60$ g/mol.