What would be the products obtained when a mixture of p-Methoxy benzaldehyde and Methanal are heated with 50 % concentrated Caustic soda solution?

Step-by-step solution

The reaction between p-Methoxybenzaldehyde and Methanal in the presence of concentrated aqueous sodium hydroxide (50% NaOH) is a crossed Cannizzaro reaction. In a crossed Cannizzaro reaction involving an aromatic aldehyde and formaldehyde, formaldehyde acts as the reducing agent because it is more reactive towards nucleophilic attack by the hydroxide ion ( OH⁻ ). The mechanism involves the nucleophilic attack of OH⁻ on the carbonyl carbon of formaldehyde to form a hydride donor species, which then transfers a hydri