- Most of the time on the MCAT and aldehyde or keton will be acting either as the substrate in nucleophilic addition or as a Bronsted-Lowry acid by donating one of its alpha-hydrogens
- A carbon that is attached to a carbonyl carbon is in the alpha position and is called an alpha carbon; the next carbon is beta carbon and so on down the Greek alphabet.
- alpha carbon anions are stabilized by resonance. This anion is called an enolate (usually alpha carbon anions are very strong bases and unstable)
*en from alkene and ol from alcohol
*enolate ion is the conjugate base of ketone and aldehyde
- Both aldehydes and ketones are less acidic than alcohols; any electron withdrawing groups attached to the alpha carbon or the carbonyl tend to stabilize the conjugate base and thus increase acidity.
- Due to the properties of the alpha-hydrogen (hydrogen attached to the alpha carbon) and carbony, ketones and aldehydes exist at room temperature as enol tautomers.
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