Aldehyde

An aldehyde is either a functional group consisting of a terminal carbonyl group, or a compound containing a terminal carbonyl group.

Structure

The aldehyde functional group is a carbonyl group bonded to a hydrogen atom and a carbon atom.

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α carbon & α hydrogen

An α (alpha) carbon is a carbon adjacent to a carbonyl group. An α hydrogen is a hydrogen atom bonded to the α carbon. The pKa of an α hydrogen is 20.

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Carbonyl group

The other molecules containing carbonyl group are:

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• Ketones
• Carboxylic acids