Metabolite Card

Formula: C2H4O (44.0262)
SMILES: CC=O

Synonyms [en]

acetaldehyde; ethanal; ethyl aldehyde; acetic aldehyde; acetaldehydes; aldehyde

Reviewed

Last reviewed on 2024-06-28.

Cite this Page

Acetaldehyde. 数据之源,洞见之始. SMRUCC genomics institute, a synthetic life researcher from China. https://biocad_registry.innovation.ac.cn/s/(-)-arctiin (retrieved 2026-01-03) (CAD Registry RN: BioCAD00000005751). Licensed under the Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Note

Acetaldehyde, also known as ethanal, belongs to the class of organic compounds known as short-chain aldehydes. These are an aldehyde with a chain length containing between 2 and 5 carbon atoms. Acetaldehyde exists in all living species, ranging from bacteria to humans. Within humans, acetaldehyde participates in a number of enzymatic reactions. In particular, acetaldehyde can be biosynthesized from ethanol which is mediated by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase 1B. Acetaldehyde can also be converted to acetic acid by the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase (mitochondrial) and aldehyde dehydrogenase X (mitochondrial). The main method of production is the oxidation of ethylene by the Wacker process, which involves oxidation of ethylene using a homogeneous palladium/copper system: 2 CH2CH2 + O2 → 2 CH3CHO. In the 1970s, the world capacity of the Wacker-Hoechst direct oxidation process exceeded 2 million tonnes annually. In humans, acetaldehyde is involved in disulfiram action pathway. Acetaldehyde is an aldehydic, ethereal, and fruity tasting compound. Outside of the human body, acetaldehyde is found, on average, in the highest concentration in a few different foods, such as sweet oranges, pineapples, and mandarin orange (clementine, tangerine) and in a lower concentration in . acetaldehyde has also been detected, but not quantified in several different foods, such as malabar plums, malus (crab apple), rose hips, natal plums, and medlars. This could make acetaldehyde a potential biomarker for the consumption of these foods. In condensation reactions, acetaldehyde is prochiral. Acetaldehyde is formally rated as a possible carcinogen (by IARC 2B) and is also a potentially toxic compound. Acetaldehyde has been found to be associated with several diseases such as alcoholism, ulcerative colitis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and crohn's disease; also acetaldehyde has been linked to the inborn metabolic disorders including aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency (III) sulfate is used to reoxidize the mercury back to the mercury. Acetaldehyde was first observed by the Swedish pharmacist/chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1774); it was then investigated by the French chemists Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy and Louis Nicolas Vauquelin (1800), and the German chemists Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner (1821, 1822, 1832) and Justus von Liebig (1835). At room temperature, acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) is more stable than vinyl alcohol (CH2CHOH) by 42.7 kJ/mol: Overall the keto-enol tautomerization occurs slowly but is catalyzed by acids. The level at which an average consumer could detect acetaldehyde is still considerably lower than any toxicity. Pathways of exposure include air, water, land, or groundwater, as well as drink and smoke. Acetaldehyde is also created by thermal degradation or ultraviolet photo-degradation of some thermoplastic polymers during or after manufacture. The water industry generally recognizes 20–40 ppb as the taste/odor threshold for acetaldehyde. The level at which an average consumer could detect acetaldehyde is still considerably lower than any toxicity.

Entity Information

DBLinks

Other DBLinks
  • CAS Registry Number: 3170-69-2
  • CAS Registry Number: 75-07-0
  • PubChem: 177
  • ChEBI: ChEBI:15343
  • HMDB: HMDB0000990
  • KEGG: C00084
  • BioCyc: ACETALD
  • NCBI MeSH: Acetaldehyde
  • Wikipedia: Acetaldehyde
  • RefMet: RM0041316
  • MoNA: HMDB0000990_ms_ms_1378
  • MoNA: HMDB0000990_ms_ms_1379
  • MoNA: HMDB0000990_ms_ms_1380
  • Metlin: METLIN_3200
  • Coconut NaturalProduct: CNP0566693.0

Class / Ontology

Metabolic Network
ID EC Number Name
KEGG:R00025 1.13.12.16 ethylnitronate:oxygen 2-oxidoreductase (nitrite-forming)
KEGG:R00224 4.1.1.1 pyruvate carboxy-lyase (acetaldehyde-forming)
KEGG:R00228 1.2.1.10 acetaldehyde:NAD+ oxidoreductase (CoA-acetylating)
KEGG:R00326 1.2.99.6 acetaldehyde:acceptor oxidoreductase
KEGG:R00710 1.2.1.3 acetaldehyde:NAD+ oxidoreductase
KEGG:R00711 1.2.1.4 acetaldehyde:NADP+ oxidoreductase
KEGG:R00746 1.1.1.2 ethanol:NADP+ oxidoreductase
KEGG:R00747 3.11.1.1 2-phosphonoacetaldehyde phosphonohydrolase
KEGG:R00748 4.2.3.2 ethanolamine-phosphate phosphate-lyase (deaminating; acetaldehyde-forming)
KEGG:R00749 4.3.1.7 ethanolamine ammonia-lyase (acetaldehyde-forming)
KEGG:R00750 4.1.3.39 4-hydroxy-2-oxopentanoate pyruvate-lyase (acetaldehyde-forming)
KEGG:R00751 4.1.2.5 L-threonine acetaldehyde-lyase (glycine-forming)
KEGG:R00753 4.1.2.36 (S)-lactate acetaldehyde-lyase (formate-forming)
KEGG:R00754 1.1.1.1 ethanol:NAD+ oxidoreductase
KEGG:R00755 4.1.1.1 C00084 + C00068<=>C05125
KEGG:R00799 1.7.3.1 nitroethane:oxygen oxidoreductase
KEGG:R01019 1.2.5.2 acetaldehyde:pyrroloquinoline-quinone oxidoreductase
KEGG:R01066 4.1.2.4 2-deoxy-D-ribose-5-phosphate acetaldehyde-lyase (D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-forming)
KEGG:R01410 C01326 + C00084 + C00014<=>C05714 + C00001
KEGG:R02345 2.2.1.4 3-hydroxybutan-2-one:D-ribose-5-phosphate aldehydetransferase
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Organism Source

Taxonomy Source

  1. Allium sativum [ncbi taxid: 4682]
  2. Aloe africana [ncbi taxid: 1080010]
  3. Aloe ferox [ncbi taxid: 117798]
  4. Aloe spicata [ncbi taxid: 992642]
  5. Aloe vera [ncbi taxid: 34199]
  6. Ananas comosus [ncbi taxid: 4615]
  7. Anemarrhena asphodeloides [ncbi taxid: 59045]
  8. Arctium lappa [ncbi taxid: 4217]
  9. Brassica napus [ncbi taxid: 3708]
  10. Campylobacter jejuni [ncbi taxid: 197]
  11. Citrus reticulata [ncbi taxid: 85571]
  12. Citrus sinensis [ncbi taxid: 2711]
  13. Clostridium difficile [ncbi taxid: ]
  14. Daucus carota [ncbi taxid: 4039]
  15. Escherichia coli [ncbi taxid: 562]
  16. Escherichia coli KO11 [ncbi taxid: ]
  17. FOOD SAKE [ncbi taxid: ]
  18. Homo sapiens [ncbi taxid: 9606]
  19. Illicium verum [ncbi taxid: 124778]
  20. Mus musculus [ncbi taxid: 10090]
  21. Olea europaea [ncbi taxid: 4146]
  22. Passiflora edulis [ncbi taxid: 78168]
  23. Saccharomyces cerevisiae [ncbi taxid: 4932]
  24. Staphylococcus aureus [ncbi taxid: 1280]
  25. Triglochin maritima [ncbi taxid: 55501]
  26. Triglochin maritimum [ncbi taxid: ]
  27. Vinum [ncbi taxid: ]
  28. Zanthoxylum bungeanum [ncbi taxid: 328401]
  29. Zanthoxylum piperitum [ncbi taxid: 354529]
  30. Zanthoxylum schinifolium [ncbi taxid: 354530]
  31. Zingiber officinale [ncbi taxid: 94328]

Pathway Synthetic

pathway id name
BioCyc:HUMAN_PWY66-161 oxidative ethanol degradation III
BioCyc:META_PWY-7118 chitin degradation to ethanol
BioCyc:META_PWY66-21 ethanol degradation II
BioCyc:META_ETOH-ACETYLCOA-ANA-PWY ethanol degradation I
BioCyc:META_PWY66-161 ethanol degradation III
BioCyc:META_PWY66-162 ethanol degradation IV
BioCyc:META_PWY-6703 preQ0 biosynthesis
BioCyc:META_PWY-7085 triethylamine degradation
BioCyc:META_PWY-6048 methylthiopropanoate degradation I (cleavage)
BioCyc:META_PWY-5266 p-cymene degradation
BioCyc:META_PWY-6954 superpathway of aromatic compound degradation via 2-hydroxypentadienoate
BioCyc:META_P441-PWY superpathway of N-acetylneuraminate degradation
BioCyc:META_PWY-5420 catechol degradation II (meta-cleavage pathway)
BioCyc:META_PWY-5178 toluene degradation IV (aerobic) (via catechol)
BioCyc:META_PWY-6957 mandelate degradation to acetyl-CoA
BioCyc:META_PWY-6505 L-tryptophan degradation XII (Geobacillus)
BioCyc:META_P122-PWY heterolactic fermentation
BioCyc:META_PWY-5183 superpathway of aerobic toluene degradation
BioCyc:META_PWY-7180 2'-deoxy-α-D-ribose 1-phosphate degradation
BioCyc:META_PWY-5480 pyruvate fermentation to ethanol I
View All Pathways