Identify the final product of the following sequence of reactions: Reagents: (i) Br ₂, H ₂ O (ii) H ₂ O ₂ / Fe ³⁺ (iii) Br ₂, H ₂ O (iv) H ₂ O ₂ / Fe ³⁺ (v) HNO ₃

Step-by-step solution

The given starting material is D-mannose, an aldohexose with hydroxyl groups at C2, C3, C4, and C5 in the Left, Left, Right, Right positions respectively. The sequence of reactions involves two consecutive Ruff degradations followed by oxidation: 1. First Ruff Degradation: Reagents (i) Br ₂, H ₂ O oxidize the aldehyde group to a carboxylic acid, forming D-mannonic acid. Reagents (ii) H ₂ O ₂ / Fe ³⁺ cause oxidative decarboxylation, removing the C1 carbon as CO ₂ and converting C2 into a new aldehyde group. This con