Aldol

In organic chemistry, an aldol describes a structural motif consisting of a 3-hydroxy ketone or 3-hydroxyaldehyde. Aldols are usually the product of aldol addition. When used alone, the term "aldol" may refer to 3-hydroxybutanal.[1]

Isomers of generalized aldol.

Generalized structure of the aldol moiety: When R3 is -H, it is a β-hydroxy aldehyde, otherwise it is a β-hydroxy ketone.

Despite have only two functional groups, most aldols can have complicated structures arising from the relative positions of the OH group and the substituent between it and the carbonyl.[2] Controlling reactions in order to favor the formation of one of these isomers is of great interest in the area of asymmetric synthesis