Acetal Definition in Chemistry

An acetal is an organic molecule where two separate oxygen atoms are single bonded to a central carbon atom.Acetals have the general structure of R2C(OR)2.An older definition of acetal had one at least one R group as a derivative of an aldehyde where R H, but an acetal can contain derivatives of ketones where neither R group is a hydrogen. This type of acetal is called a ketal.Acetals that contain different R groups are called mixed acetals. Acetal Examples Dimethoxymethane is an acetal compound. Acetal is also a common name for the compound 1,1-diethoxyethane. The compound polyoxymethylene (POM) is a plastic that is also called simply acetal or polyacetal. Source IUPAC (1997). Compendium of Chemical Terminology (2nd ed.) (the Gold Book). Ketals. doi:10.1351/goldbook.K03376