How do aldehyde and ketone structures differ?

Question

How do aldehyde and ketone structures differ?

1 Answer

Impact of this question

3202 views around the world

You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License

Answer 1 · 2016-03-03T22:09:12

They both have a oxygen atom double-bonded to a carbon.

Explanation:

The difference is that in a ketone (suffix -one) the $O =$ $O=$ is bonded to a $C$ $C$ with two other $C$ $C$ 's attached. In the aldehyde (suffix -al) the $C$ $C$ is at the end of the chain, so there is also a $H$ $H$ attached to it.

This combination of $O$ $O$ and $H$ $H$ on the same $C$ $C$ makes it possible for the aldehyde group to oxidize into a $- C O O H$ $-COOH$ (acid) group, while the ketone group cannot.
enter image source here propanal
propanone
(pictures from wikipedia)

Science

Math

Humanities

... and beyond

How do aldehyde and ketone structures differ?

1 Answer

Explanation:

Related questions

Impact of this question