I believe you are right about the absence of that hydrogen needed
for removal. When a tertiary alcohol is presented under the conditions
for a chromate oxidation, the alcohol easily forms the chromate ester,
however, unlike secondary alcohols, the tertiary cannot form a ketone. A
helpful page in the book (for this explanation) is the mechanism for the
formation fo a secondary alcohol to a ketone (p476), and then the
explanation on the following page in the fourth paragraph.
-AL
(leglerba)
On Mon, 9 Dec 1996 becksm@plu.edu wrote:
>
> Why is it that tertiary alcohols can't be oxidized with KMnO4 or H2CrO4?
> Is it because there is not a H to be removed from the central C atom? I
> forgot to write this down in my notes today?
>
> Stephanie
>
>