Aldehydes by: ajfcalapatia, cjoca and amvitug

Aldehydes  

- are a class of highly reactive organic chemical compounds that contain a carbonyl group (in which a carbon atom is double bonded to an oxygen atom) and at least one hydrogen atom bound to the alpha carbon (the central carbon atom in the carbonyl group). 
- The word aldehyde was coined by Justus von Liebig as a contraction of the Latin alcohol dehydrogenatus.

The base form of an aldehyde, A planar carbon center that is connected
by a double bond to oxygen and a single bond to hydrogen.

 Formaldehyde (Methanal),
the simplest aldehyde.

Uses of aldehydes:


Hundreds of individual aldehydes are used by chemists daily to synthesize other compounds, but there are less important in industrial synthesis (that is, the production of compounds on a scale of tons.) Only one aldehyde, formaldehyde, is used to a significant degree in industry worldwide (as it is used to preserve the dead, as an insecticide and used to create plastic), as determined by number of tons of the chemical utilized per year.  


Other Examples of Aldehydes:

• Acetaldehyde (Ethanal) - CH₃CHO or MeCHO

• Propionaldehyde (Propanal) - CH₃CH₂CHO

• Butyraldehyde (Butanal) - CH₃(CH₂)₂CHO