Question

Why formaldehyde more active then acetyldehyde

Answer 1

There are two reasons for this. Firstly , the acetaldehyde has a comparitively bulky group attached to carbonyl group which hinders the attack of Nucleophile to some extent , but in the case of formaldehyde this is not so.Secondly , CH3 group in acetaldehyde decreases the positive charge on cabonyl carbon by +I effect to some extect which is not so in the case of formaldehyde, Since , Nu attack is favourable with more positive charge and less hinderance at carbonyl carbon , hence we conclude that formaldehyde is more reactive than acetaldehyde .

Answer 2

Answer:

Secondly , CH3 group in acetaldehyde decreases the positive charge on cabonyl carbon by +I effect to some extect which is not so in the case of formaldehyde, Since , Nu attack is favourable with more positive charge and less hinderance at carbonyl carbon , hence we conclude that formaldehyde is more reactive than ...