Acetaldehyde to butan-1-ol

Explanation

To convert acetaldehyde (CH₃CHO) to butan-1,3-diol (CH₃-CH(OH)-CH(OH)-CH₃), we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Aldol Condensation
1. **Starting Material**: Acetaldehyde (CH₃CHO).
2. **Reagent**: Sodium hydroxide (NaOH).
3. **Process**: Under basic conditions, acetaldehyde undergoes aldol condensation. The acetaldehyde molecules will deprotonate to form an enolate ion, which then attacks another acetaldehyde molecule.
4. **Product Formation**: This results in the formation of 3-hydroxybutanal (also known as an aldol), which can be represented as:
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