Aldehyde Nomenclature: Methanal
Propionaldehyde
Methanal is a simple aldehyde with the chemical formula CH₂O. It is also known as formaldehyde, and it is one of the most important and commonly used aldehydes. When naming aldehydes, it is important to follow the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) system, which involves identifying the longest continuous carbon chain that includes the carbonyl group, and assigning a prefix and suffix to indicate the presence of an aldehyde functional group.
In the case of methanal, there is only one carbon atom, so it is the straight chain alkane. The suffix for an aldehyde is “-al”, so the name for methanal would be “methanal”. This name indicates that there is one carbon atom and one aldehyde functional group in the molecule.
In common naming, formaldehyde is often used instead of methanal, but it is still important to know the IUPAC name for this compound.
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