Any compound having highly basic properties, strong acrid taste, and ability to neutralize acids. Aqueous solutions of alkalies are high in hydroxyl ions, have a pH above 7, and turn litmus paper from red to blue. Caustic alkalies include sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), the sixth-largest-volume chemical produced in the United States, and potassium hydroxide. They are
An organic compound that contains one or more closed rings of carbon atoms. The term alicyclic specifically excludes carbocyclic compounds with an array of n-electrons characteristic of aromatic rings. Compounds with one to five alicyclic rings of great variety and complexity are found in many natural products such as steroids.and terpenes. By far the majority
One of a class of organic chemical compounds represented by the general formula RCHO. Formaldehyde, the simplest aldehyde, has the formula HCHO, where R is hydrogen. For all other aldehydes, R is a hydrocarbon radical which may be substituted with other groups such as halogen or hydroxyl (see table). Because of their high chemical reactivity,