acetals

Geminal diethers; class of chemical compounds

Entitystructural class of chemical entitiesQ421103

Also known as acetal

Instance of: structural class of chemical entities
1
Sources
1.Stated in Glossary of Class Names of Organic Compounds and Reactive Intermediates Based on Structure (IUPAC Recommendations 1995)
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Subclass of: ethers
1
Sources
1.Stated in Glossary of Class Names of Organic Compounds and Reactive Intermediates Based on Structure (IUPAC Recommendations 1995)
View statement on Wikidata ↗

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

In organic chemistry, an acetal is a functional group with the connectivity R2C(OR')2. Here, the R groups can be organic fragments or hydrogen, while the R' groups must be organic fragments, not hydrogen. The two R' groups can be equivalent to each other or not. An acetal is formed from and convertible to two alcohol molecules and an aldehyde or ketone, but acetals have substantially different chemical stability and reactivity as compared to the analogous carbonyl compounds. The central carbon atom has four bonds to it, and is therefore saturated and has tetrahedral geometry.

Overview

All data

31 statements · 23% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: acetyl
polyoxymethylene
General formula: (R³)(R⁴)C(OR¹)(OR²), R¹≠H, R²≠H

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statements

23%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 14, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). acetals (Q421103). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/acetals-Q421103