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3-hydroxybutanal
Sign in to saveAlso known as 3-hydroxybutyraldehyde, acetaldol
In organic chemistry, 3-hydroxybutanal (acetaldol, aldol) is an organic compound with the formula and the structure . It is classified as an aldol () and the word "aldol" can refer specifically to 3-hydroxybutanal. It is formally the product of the dimerization of acetaldehyde (). A thick colorless or pale-yellow liquid, it is a versatile and valuable intermediate with diverse impacts. The compound is chiral although this aspect is not often exploited.
Chemical data
- Formula
- C4H8O2
- Molecular weight
- 88.11 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- 3-hydroxybutanal
- SMILES
- CC(CC=O)O
- InChIKey
- HSJKGGMUJITCBW-UHFFFAOYSA-N
- XLogP
- -0.6
- Polar surface area
- 37.3 Ų
- H-bond donors
- 1
- H-bond acceptors
- 2
- Formal charge
- 0
via PubChem
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Production
- Reactions and uses
- Former or niche uses
- See also
- References
In organic chemistry, 3-hydroxybutanal (acetaldol, aldol) is an organic compound with the formula and the structure . It is classified as an aldol () and the word "aldol" can refer specifically to 3-hydroxybutanal. It is formally the product of the dimerization of acetaldehyde (). A thick colorless or pale-yellow liquid, it is a versatile and valuable intermediate with diverse impacts. The compound is chiral although this aspect is not often exploited.
==Production== Acetaldehyde dimerizes upon treatment with aqueous sodium hydroxide:
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “3-hydroxybutanal” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.