Aldehydes and ketones are two important classes of organic compounds which are widely used in the synthesis of a variety of other organic compounds. Due to the polarity of the carbonyl group, they undergo nucleophilic addition reactions. Broadly speaking, these addition reactions are of two types- one in which simply the addition of the nucleophilic reagent occurs across \(>C=O\) bond and the other in which addition is followed by the elimination of a molecule of water. A number of ammonia derivatives such as hydroxylamine, hydrazine, phenylhydrazine, 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine, and semicarbazide belong to the second category of reactions. These derivatives are used for the identification and characterization of aldehydes/ketones. Both types of nucleophilic addition reactions are influenced by steric and electronic factors. In general, aliphatic aldehydes are more reactive than aromatic aldehydes. The aliphatic aldehydes reduce both Fehling's solution and Tollen's reagent but aromatic aldehydes reduce only Tollen's reagent. Like aldehydes, aromatic ketones are less reactive than aliphatic ketones towards nucleophilic addition reactions.
Phenols and carboxylic acids are acidic in nature. Both dissolve in \(NaOH\) solution and turn blue litmus red. However carboxylic acids are much stronger acids than phenols and decompose \(NaHCO_3\) with the evolution of \(CO_2\) but phenols do not. Both electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents influence the acid strength of aliphatic as well as aromatic acids. Unlike all other aliphatic acids, formic acid has reducing properties and also does not show reactions of the alkyl group.
Structure of Brady's reagent is ______.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine
Brady’s reagent is 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (2,4-DNP): a benzene ring carrying an –\( \ce{NHNH2} \) group at C1 and two –\( \ce{NO2} \) groups at C2 and C4 (ortho and para to the hydrazine group). The structure in Option (2) is this compound. Aldehydes and ketones react with it to give yellow-orange 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones, a test for the carbonyl group.
\( \ce{>C=O + H2N-NH-C6H3(NO2)2 -> >C=N-NH-C6H3(NO2)2 + H2O} \)
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) — Incorrect. This ring carries three nitro groups (2,4,5-trinitrophenylhydrazine), not the two of Brady’s reagent.
Option (3) — Incorrect. This ring carries four nitro groups (2,3,4,5-tetranitrophenylhydrazine), not Brady’s reagent.
Option (4) — Incorrect. This is phenylhydrazine, \( \ce{C6H5NHNH2} \), which has no nitro group.
NCERT (2026-27 edition):
Addition of Ammonia and its Derivatives – …

Note: The same/similar question has been asked in different years by NTA as per the details given below:
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | – | – | 02-06 S3 31-05 S1 | – |