Practice Problem: Reducing Agents

The video tutorial explains the reduction of a substrate with ketone and carboxylic acid groups using two reducing agents: sodium borohydride and lithium aluminum hydride. Sodium borohydride, a weaker reducing agent, can only reduce ketones and aldehydes, while lithium aluminum hydride, a stronger agent, can also reduce carboxylic acids and esters. The tutorial highlights the differences in reducing strength and the resulting products from each reaction.

What are the two reducing agents discussed in the text?

Explain the difference in reducing strength between sodium borohydride and lithium aluminum hydride.

What types of compounds can sodium borohydride reduce, and why is it limited in this capacity?

How does the presence of adjacent oxygen atoms affect the electrophilicity of carbonyl compounds?

Describe the products formed when ketones and carboxylic acids are treated with lithium aluminum hydride.