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Glite Dictionary
aldehyde group

aldehyde group

6.1
A chemical group in a molecule with a carbon bonded to hydrogen and double-bonded to oxygen
  • noun
  • /ˈældaɪhaɪd ɡruːp/
  • Specialized
translation icon : grupo aldehído
  • Sorbitol is a "sugar alcohol"; it is made by the reduction of glucose, converting the aldehyde group of glucose to a hydroxyl group.

Examples

  • An aldehyde group can be identified by the presence of the -CHO structure in a molecule.

  • During the reaction, the aldehyde group was transformed into a carboxylic acid.

  • The aldehyde group is important in organic chemistry because it defines the reactivity of aldehydes.

Synonyms

aldehyde radical
vsaldehyde group
  • Specialized
7.9

A carbon atom double-bonded to oxygen and single-bonded to hydrogen

has the same meaning but is a different term for the same unit

Surface Forms

aldehyde group singular
aldehyde groups plural

Morphology

aldehyde + group

The phrase is a straightforward scientific compound: 'aldehyde' names the specific chemical unit and 'group' signals a functional group, so the overall meaning (‘the aldehyde functional group, -CHO’) is directly derivable from its parts. This follows standard compositional naming in chemistry and similar constructions exist across languages, so a learner who knows both constituents will understand the MWE.

Etymology

Aldehyde group may come from a shortened form of the old phrase 'alcohol dehydrogenatus', meaning an alcohol that has lost hydrogen. Think of an alcohol losing hydrogen and gaining a double-bonded oxygen to make the small part -CHO, so the aldehyde group means a carbon bonded to a hydrogen and double-bonded to oxygen.