Acetaldehyde , in the presence of NaOH, will

Options

A. produce 3-hydroxybutanal
B. be converted to acetic acid
C. produce ethyl acetate
D. do none of the above

Explanation

To solve the question regarding the reaction of acetaldehyde in the presence of NaOH, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Identify the Reactants:**
- The reactant is acetaldehyde, which has the chemical formula CH₃CHO.

2. **Understand the Role of NaOH:**
- Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is a strong base. In this reaction, it will act to deprotonate the alpha hydrogen of acetaldehyde.

3. **Deprotonation:**
- The alpha carbon (the carbon adjacent to the carbonyl group) of acetaldehyde has hydrogens that can be abstracted by the base. When NaOH abstracts a hydrogen from the alpha carbon, it forms an enolate ion:
\[ \text{CH}_3C(=O)H \rightarrow \text{CH}_2C(=O)H^- \]

4. **Nucleophilic Attack:**
- The enolate ion (CH₂C(=O)H⁻) will then act as a nucleophile and attack the carbonyl carbon of another acetaldehyde molecule. This forms a new carbon-carbon bond:
\[ \text{CH}_2C(=O)H^- + \text{CH}_3CHO \rightarrow \text{CH}_3C(OH)(CH_2CHO) \]

5. **Formation of 3-Hydroxybutanal:**
- The product formed is 3-hydroxybutanal (or 3-hydroxybutyraldehyde), which can also be referred to as 3-hydroxybutanol when considering its alcohol character. The structure can be represented as:
\[ \text{CH}_3CHOHCH_2CHO \]

6. **Determine the Correct Answer:**
- Among the given options, the correct answer is that acetaldehyde in the presence of NaOH will produce 3-hydroxybutanol.

### Conclusion:
The correct answer is **Option 1: Produce 3-hydroxybutanol**.