My teacher told me that when we oxidise styrene with $\ce{KMnO4}$, it will stop at benzaldehyde. But I think that it will continue to go on till benzoic acid. Am I right?
1 Answer
In the heterogenous permanganate oxidation of styrene, that is when the reaction is performed in dichloromethane with potassium permanganate on a solid support (such as aluminium oxide), the reaction stops at the stage of the aldehyde.
The method was published in Synthesis 2001, 11, 1645-1648 and the authors report a yield of 90% for the oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde.