When choosing between oxidation and dehydrogenation to convert a heavy organic alcohol to its corresponding acid, industrial experience suggests considering several factors. Oxidation methods using strong agents like KMnO4 or CrO3 are efficient but generate hazardous waste. Dehydrogenation with catalysts like Pd/Al2O3 or Pt offers cleaner conversion with better selectivity. The decision hinges on substrate specificity, desired yield, environmental impact, scalability, regulatory compliance, and economic viability, ensuring a sustainable and effective industrial process.
The most common method is oxidising primary alcohols. This is done in two simplified stages. First, the primary alcohol is oxidised to an aldehyde. Next, the aldehyde is converted to an acid.
Long fatty acid chains can be obtained by hydrolysis of vegetable oils (fat splitting).
It could be helpful if you gave some direction what the chain length of your carboxylic acid is : Carboxylic acid - Wikipedia