Talk:Hemiacetal

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Is methanal hydrate a hemiacetal? I think it should be called methanediol but nobody in my school seems to know.. 203.218.87.192 01:50, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

The use of the word "and" in this sentence is confusing: "A hemiacetal can react with an alcohol under acidic conditions to form an acetal, and can dissociate to form an aldehyde and an alcohol." The science is beyond me, but I wonder whether there are two different things a hemiacetal can do, in which case, the word "or" would be better; or whether the acetal formed (in the reaction with the alcohol) can then go on to dissociate, in which case, "which" would be appropriate. D021317c 18:58, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

I have a little doubt about hemi acetals...why hemi acetals are less stable than acetals?? can any one can explain me in what way it is less stable??

hemiacetal instability
Right or wrong, I think the hemiacetal is more unstable because the two oxygens in the OH groups are electron withdrawing off the same carbon, with no other significant electron donators. This leads to high polarity and affinity for other hydrogens which might lead the OH to form water and/or other compounds and possibly leave. An acetal has R groups locked onto the oxygen and its less likely to go anywhere. Yakob32 05:56, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Why does hemiketal link to the hemiacetal page? I don't think they are the same.
From my limited understanding, ketals are considered a subset of acetals, therefore, maybe hemiketals are a subset of hemiacetals. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.232.173.26 (talk) 14:11, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

These reactions have two oxygen atoms on the left and three on the right
The reactions given on this page seem to be unbalanced. Count the oxygen atoms, for example. Is this a mistake? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.69.49.49 (talk) 17:18, 25 November 2008 (UTC)