NEET UG · Chemistry · Class 12

Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids: NEET previous year questions

27 questions in ten years of NEET, asked in 10 of 10 years. Here is what this chapter tests and how.

Asked in 10 years: 27; 10 of 10 papers
10-year average: 2.6; a paper · 3.2 since 2024 +0.9
Typical range: 1–4; questions a paper; fewest 1, most 4
Weighted estimate: 3.1; model, recent papers count more · about 13 marks

Typical range (fact)
10-year average (fact)
Weighted estimate (model)

Typical range: questions per paper in the middle eight of the ten papers, leaving out the single highest and lowest year (about the 10th to 90th percentile), each paper scaled to 180 questions. The ten-year average and the range are historical fact. The weighted estimate is a model: each paper's share, with recent papers counting more (half-life three years), and dropped syllabus removed. It is a guide to effort, not a forecast.

What to do

How to spend time on Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids

Priority

Must do

Among the chapters that held the first half of all NEET questions in ten years. How bands are set

Past questions: 27in 10 of 10 papers
Study plan gives it: 24 hover 12 months; 18 h over 6

Study this chapter →Practise →

Ideas asked most often

Preparation of Aldehydes, Ketones and Acids3×
Etard Reaction2×
Grignard Addition to Carbonyls2×
Tollens' and Fehling's Tests2×
Cross-Aldol Reaction Selectivity2×

68 of the 76 ideas in Lumi’s map of this chapter have not been asked or touched in ten years. New questions often come from ideas like these, so learn the whole chapter, not just the list above.

Questions per year

Kind of question

SHARE OF 10 YEARS

Calculation30%
Application26%
Recall11%
Concept11%
Match the lists11%
Figure-based7%
Two statements4%

Most common asks: predict product of reaction (9); identify intermediate in reaction sequence (3); identify end product of reaction sequence (2).

Profile

This chapter in numbers

Where it ranks, how steady it is, and what it costs to study.

Rank, all NEET chapters: #14; of 80 by weighted estimate
Rank in Chemistry: #3; of 21 chapters
Share of the paper: 1.4%; ten-year average
Busiest year: 2021; 4 questions
Year to year: Some swing; varies by about 1.0 questions
Long-run direction: +0.23; questions per paper, per year
Easy questions: 33%; 95% of ideas rated hard
With a figure: 70%; graph, diagram or structure
Study time: 24 h; 18 h on a 6-month plan
Marks per study hour: 0.54; #47 of 80 chapters
Foundation for others: 92%; of its ideas are used in other chapters

Difficulty, year by year

Each question rated easy, medium or hard against NCERT.

20172
20181
20191
20202
20214
20224
20233
20244
20253
20263

Easy
Medium
Hard

What it asks you to do

SHARE OF QUESTIONS

Multi-step37%
Application30%
Recall19%
Concept15%

Coverage

How much of the chapter NEET has used

We split the chapter into 76 ideas. In ten years NEET built a question around 4 of them. Most of the chapter has never been asked, which is why learning it whole beats memorising past questions.

Asked as the main idea: 4
Touched on in a question: 4
Never asked: 68

Topics

What repeats, topic by topic

Questions per topic in each year's paper. Topics that come every year are worth learning first.

Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids · Every year22
111433432
Aldol Condensation · Most years5
2111

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Topic	2017	’18	2019	’20	2021	’22	2023	’24	2025	’26	Total
Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic AcidsEvery year	·	1	1	1	4	3	3	4	3	2	22
Aldol CondensationMost years	2	·	·	1	·	1	·	·	·	1	5

04+questions in that year’s paper

Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids
Expect a short numerical problem (one or two formula steps, four numeric options) about Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids; an application item that applies the idea to a fresh situation is the next most likely shape. Past framings centre on: predict product of reaction; identify intermediate in reaction sequence.

Drill down

Topic, idea, question

Open a topic to see every idea NEET tested inside it, then open an idea to read the questions. Each row shows its ten papers.

topicAskedShareYears’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Open22 · 81%81%9/10433432
16 ideas inside
- 3 · 14%14%1/103
- Repeated2 · 9%9%2/10
- Repeated2 · 9%9%2/10
- Repeated2 · 9%9%2/10
- Repeated2 · 9%9%2/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
- 1 · 5%5%1/10
Open5 · 19%19%4/102

Squares are the ten papers, 2017 to 2026; darker means more questions. Share is of the level above.

Ideas

The exact ideas NEET has asked

Inside the topics, 20 different ideas were tested. These came more than once, or are new since 2024.

Preparation of Aldehydes, Ketones and AcidsNew3×
match list on reactions and reagents
Etard Reaction2×
identify intermediate in reaction sequence
Grignard Addition to Carbonyls2×
predict product of reaction
Tollens' and Fehling's Tests2×
predict product of reaction
Cross-Aldol Reaction Selectivity2×
name the reaction type
Physical Properties of Carbonyl Compounds and Carboxylic Acids2×
reason for property difference
Claisen-Schmidt CondensationNew1×
identify compound not formed in reaction
Haloform ReactionNew1×
identify end product of reaction sequence
Acidity of Carboxylic AcidsNew1×
order/ranking of property
Partial Reduction to AldehydesNew1×
reagent identification

Idea	Times	Usually asked as
Preparation of Aldehydes, Ketones and Acidsmatch list on reactions and reagents	3	One-line MCQNew
Etard Reactionidentify intermediate in reaction sequence	2	One-line MCQ
Grignard Addition to Carbonylspredict product of reaction	2	One-line MCQ
Tollens' and Fehling's Testspredict product of reaction	2	One-line MCQ
Cross-Aldol Reaction Selectivityname the reaction type	2	One-line MCQ
Physical Properties of Carbonyl Compounds and Carboxylic Acidsreason for property difference	2	One-line MCQ
Claisen-Schmidt Condensationidentify compound not formed in reaction	1	One-line MCQNew
Haloform Reactionidentify end product of reaction sequence	1	One-line MCQNew
Acidity of Carboxylic Acidsorder/ranking of property	1	One-line MCQNew
Partial Reduction to Aldehydesreagent identification	1	One-line MCQNew

Every question

Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper.

NEET 20263 questions

Q46For the following reaction sequence, choose the correct option Benzene $\xrightarrow[\text{ii. NaOCl}]{\text{i. CH}_3\text{COCl, AlCl}_3}$ …One-line MCQ · figure
Q82The compound that CANNOT be obtained from the aldol condensation reaction shown below, is [2,2-dimethylcyclopentan-1-one] + PhCHO…One-line MCQ · figure
Q86Consider the following reaction, and choose the correct option. $\mathrm{C_6H_5CH_3}$ …One-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20253 questions

Q70The correct order of decreasing acidity of the following aliphatic acids is :One-line MCQ
Q78The major product of the following reaction is : $C_6H_5COCH_2CH_2CN \xrightarrow{\text{(i) CH}_3\text{MgBr (excess); (ii) H}_3\text{O}^+}$ One-line MCQ · figure
Q83Identify the suitable reagent for the following conversion. $C_6H_5COOCH_3 \to C_6H_5CHO$ One-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20244 questions

Q59Match List I with List II. List I (Reaction) | List II (Reagents/Condition) A. [cyclohexylidenecyclohexane] $\to$ 2 [cyclohexanone] | I.…Match the lists · figure
Q62Fehling's solution 'A' isOne-line MCQ
Q69Identify the correct reagents that would bring about the following transformation. [C $_6$ H $_{11}$ ]-CH $_2$ -CH=CH $_2$ $\to$ …One-line MCQ · figure
Q97For the given reaction: [C $_6$ H $_{11}$ ]-CH=CH-[C $_6$ H $_{11}$ ] $\xrightarrow{\mathrm{KMnO_4/H^+}}$ 'P' (major product) 'P' isOne-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20233 questions

Q57Complete the following reaction : Cyclohexanone [A] $\xrightarrow{\text{HCN}}$ 1-hydroxycyclohexane-1-carbonitrile (cyclohexanone…One-line MCQ · figure
Q75Identify product (A) in the following reaction : 1-[3-(3-acetylcyclohexyl)phenyl]ethan-1-one (a cyclohexane ring bearing a COCH $_3$ group,…One-line MCQ · figure
Q93Identify the major product obtained in the following reaction : 2-acetylbenzaldehyde (benzene ring with ortho COCH $_3$ and CHO groups) +…One-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20224 questions

Q64 $\mathrm{RMgX + CO_2 \xrightarrow{dry\ ether} Y \xrightarrow{H_3O^+} RCOOH}$ What is Y in the above reaction ?One-line MCQ
Q79Match List - I with List - II. List - I (Products formed) | List - II (Reaction of carbonyl compound with) (a) Cyanohydrin | (i)…Match the lists
Q81Given below are two statements : Statement I : The boiling points of aldehydes and ketones are higher than hydrocarbons of comparable…Two statements
Q90Which one of the following is not formed when acetone reacts with 2-pentanone in the presence of dilute NaOH followed by heating ?One-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20214 questions

Q66What is the IUPAC name of the organic compound formed in the following chemical reaction ?…One-line MCQ
Q87The intermediate compound 'X' in the following chemical reaction is :…One-line MCQ · figure
Q88Match List - I with List - II. List - I | List - II (a) Benzene $\mathrm{\xrightarrow[Anhyd.\ AlCl_3/CuCl]{CO,\ HCl}}$ | (i)…Match the lists · figure
Q89The product formed in the following chemical reaction is : [cyclohexanone with $\mathrm{-CH_2-CO-OCH_3}$ at C-2 and $\mathrm{-CH_3}$ at…One-line MCQ · figure

NEET 20202 questions

Q95Identify compound X in the following sequence of reactions : $\mathrm{C_6H_5CH_3}$ $\xrightarrow{\mathrm{Cl_2}/h\nu}$ X…One-line MCQ · figure
Q107Reaction between benzaldehyde and acetophenone in presence of dilute NaOH is known as :One-line MCQ

NEET 20191 question

Q78The major product of the following reaction is : Phthalic acid (benzene-1,2-dicarboxylic acid) + $NH_3 \xrightarrow{strong\ heating}$ Figure-based · figure

NEET 20181 question

Q67Carboxylic acids have higher boiling points than aldehydes, ketones and even alcohols of comparable molecular mass. It is due to theirOne-line MCQ

NEET 20172 questions

Q52Of the following, which is the product formed when cyclohexanone undergoes aldol condensation followed by heating ?One-line MCQ · figure
Q61Consider the reactions : X ( $\mathrm{C_2H_6O}$ ) $\xrightarrow{Cu/573\ K}$ A; A $\xrightarrow{[Ag(NH_3)_2]^+,\ ^-OH,\ \Delta}$ Silver…Figure-based · figure

Questions from the official NEET UG papers published by NTA (CBSE before 2019). Topic and idea tags, counts and notes are Lumi’s.

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