[knowlewj01]

When forming aldehydes from primary alcohols using an acidified dichromate salt as an oxidising agent, what factors affect the yield? is it something to do with the acidity of your oxidising agent?

Also what are the factors that affect yield when making a carboxylic acid under reflux using this oxidising agent?

any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[lancenti]

The most basic question would be if you have enough dichromate. I would suppose that you would already know that.

You may also want to consider the Reduction Potential of Dichromate (VI) into Chromium (III).

If you still need further clarification, do let us know but with your attempt at answering. We'll confirm your answer if it's right, or point you in the right direction.

[knowlewj01]

yeah i know that you need an excess of alcohol to make an aldehyde, you need to heat and distil your soulution and for a caroxylic acid you need an excess of oxidising agent and you need to reflux and distil. i just need to know how you would move the equilibrium to the right hence maximisig the yield by adjusting the conditions of the method in which you form the product

[lancenti]

If you want to achieve a quantitative transformation only up to the aldehyde, your best bet would probably be to use a distillation setup instead of a reflux setup. The boiling point of the alcohol in question should be higher than that of the aldehyde produced so you can separate the aldehyde before it is further oxidized.

If you want to achieve a quantitative transformation to a carboxylic acid, a reflux setup will be appropriate.