Properties of Aldehydes

The structure of aldehydes shows a sp² hybridized central carbon which is doubly connected to oxygen and has a single bond with hydrogen.

Small aldehydes are quite soluble in water.

Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are great examples of this. These two aldehydes are quite important industrially.

Aldehydes generally exhibit a tendency to undergo oligomerization or polymerization.

The carbonyl centre of the aldehyde has an electron-withdrawing nature. Therefore, the aldehyde group can be considered somewhat polar.