Nomenclature of Aldehydes

Acyclic and Aliphatic Aldehydes are named after their longest carbon chain along with the “-al” suffix. For example, CH₃CH₃CH₂CHO is called butanal since it has four carbons in the chain.

When the aldehyde functional group is added to a ring, the “-carbaldehyde” suffix must be used. For example, C₆H₁₁CHO is called cyclohexanecarbaldehyde.

In the case of natural compounds or carboxylic acids, “-oxo” is used as a prefix to highlight the carbon which is a part of the aldehyde functional group. For example, (CHO)-CH₂COOH is called 3-oxopropanoic acid.

Some common and IUPAC names for some aldehydes are tabulated below.