u/Just_Strawberry6905

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Structural elucidation of a C₈H₁₂ olefin from hydrogenation and oxidative cleavage (KMnO₄)

An olefin with molecular formula C₈H₁₂ absorbs two moles of hydrogen upon catalytic hydrogenation. When treated with potassium permanganate in basic medium, it yields carbon dioxide and 3,6-dioxoheptanoic acid. Determine the three possible structures of the starting olefin consistent with these data.

I have attempted the problem extensively over the past few days and obtained the following structure:

1-methyl-4-methylidenecyclohex-1-ene

However, I am not confident in its correctness and I have not been able to systematically derive additional valid structures.

Any guidance or complete solutions would be greatly appreciated.

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u/Just_Strawberry6905 — 1 day ago