An aldol reaction takes the following form:
- 2 enolate anions ↔ aldol
The reaction requires a base catalyst. The aldol produced is a β-hydroxyaldehyde or a β-hydroxyketone.
An aldol reaction is a condensation reaction.
An aldol reaction forms a carbon-carbon bond.
Mechanism
The mechanism has 3 steps:
- base + aldehyde or ketone ↔ water + resonance-stabilized enolate anion
- aldehyde or ketone + enolate anion ↔ tetrahedral carbonyl addition intermediate
- tetrahedral carbonyl addition intermediate + proton donor ↔ aldol + base