In my chemistry hw there is a question which I'm confused about.
There is a substance gemeprost, i.e.
The question asks:
Draw the product when gemeprost is reacted with:
a) acidified K
2Cr
2O
7 under mild conditions (product distilled immediately).
b) excess acidified K
2Cr
2O
7 and heated under reflux.
However, both of the hydroxyl groups on the compound are secondary, so they can only be oxidised to ketones. so why does it make a difference whether the dichromate solution is in excess or not or whether the product is distilled/heated under reflux? no further oxidation can happen anyway.
shouldn't the products in both situations be the same? or am i missing something??