Alkyl cyanides undergo Stephen reduction to produce

Step-by-step solution

An alkyl cyanide is dissolved in ether or better in ethyl formate or ethyl acetate, and reduced with SnCl 2 and HCl and then steam distilled. The whole process is called Stephen reaction. In this process, alkyl cyanide is reduced to aldehyde. There is no analogous method for the preparation of ketones.