Acetaldehyde is an organic colorless flammable liquid. It can be produced by hydration of acetylene and by catalytic oxidation of ethyl alcohol. It is mainly used in manufacturing acetic acid.

Mechanism of the thermal decomposition of acetaldehyde has been reported. It is a product of ethanol metabolism in the liver, binds covalently to various proteins, thereby alters the liver function and structure. The aldol condensation of acetaldehyde and heptanal in the presence of hydrotalcite-type catalysts has been described.

Acetaldehyde may be used for the enzymatic synthesis of fatty acids.

It was used in the plasma polymerization for deposition of reactive aldehyde groups onto substrate, in a study to produce fibrous biomaterials with cell adhesive and also repulsive capability in biomedical applications. It was also used as calibration standard during determination of acetone, acetaldehyde, ethanol, and methanol in different human matrices, such as whole blood, vitreous humour, and urine using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection method (GC–FID).

forms easily paraldehyde

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