Question

Ethanol is oxidized by alkaline ${ KMnO }_{ 4 }$ to oxalic acid.
A. True
B. False

Answer 1

Hint: An oxidizing agent (also called an oxidant) is a reactant that brings about the oxidation of the other reactant in a chemical reaction and itself undergoes reduction. Conversely, a reducing agent is a reactant which brings about the reduction of the other reactant and itself undergoes oxidation.

Complete step-by-step answer:

When ethanol is heated with alkaline potassium permanganate then it produces ethanoic acid due to complete oxidation. Here, the pink color of the solution vanishes due to the strong oxidizing agent as ${ KMnO }_{ 4 }$. The following reaction will take place:
${ CH }_{ 3 }{ CH }_{ 2 }{ OH+alk.KMn{ O }_{ 4 } }{ \rightarrow CH }_{ 3 }{ COOH }$
${ K }_{ 2 }{ Cr }_{ 2 }{ O }_{ 7 }$ and ${ KMnO }_{ 4 }$ converts ethanol to ethanoic acid.
Oxalic acid is ${ H }_{ 2 }{ C }_{ 2 }{ O }_{ 7 }$ which can not convert the same.
Hence, ethanol is oxidized by alkaline ${ KMnO }_{ 4 }$ to oxalic acid is a false statement.
The correct option is B.

Additional Information:
Potassium permanganate: It is a crystallize as dark purple crystals with greenish luster (M.P. is ${523}$ K)
It is soluble in water to an extent of ${ 6.5 }$ g per ${ 100g }$ at room temperature
Chemical properties: It is a powerful oxidizing agent in neutral, acidic, and alkaline media.
The nature of the reaction is different in each medium. The oxidizing character of potassium permanganate is indicated by high positive reduction potentials
The permanganate ion is responsible for oxidizing character.

Note: The possibility to make a mistake is that there is a difference between alkaline and acidified ${ KMnO }_{ 4 }$. Also, here alcohol is converting into a carboxylic acid, not oxalic acid.