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Help with recognising organic redox reactions


Nukeyfox

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Which pair of reagents will take part in a redox reaction (select one)?

  1. CH3CHCH2 + Br2 (propene + bromine) 
  2. CH3CH2CH2OH + conc. H3PO4 (propan-1-ol + conc. phosphoric acid)
  3. CH3COCH3 + HCN (propanone + hydrogen cyanide) 
  4. HCO2C2H5 + dil. H2SO4 (ethyl methanoate + dil. sulfuric acid)

At first, I (hastily) thought (4) was the redox reaction since H2SO4 is an oxidizing agent, however it turned out, according to the answer key, that (1) is the answer.

I don't understand how and why only (1) is an oxidizing agent.

For example, in (2) the oxidation number of the 2nd carbon increases and the 3rd carbon decreases.

image.thumb.png.9c3c618120104a4dd2195310502da7d1.png

And also in (3) 

image.png.a4e401df869529ae2388951979e1e904.png

Should I ignore the carbon when considering redox reactions on organic compounds? Or is my method wrong in any way?

 

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