The acidity of a-hydrogen atoms of carbonyl compounds is due
to the strong electron withdrawing effect of the carbonyl group and
resonance stabilisation of the conjugate base (i) Aldol condensation:  Aldehydes and ketones having at least one
a-hydrogen undergo a reaction in the presence of dilute alkali
as catalyst to form b-hydroxy aldehydes (aldol) or b-hydroxy
ketones (ketol), respectively This is known as Aldol reaction The name aldol is derived from the names of the two
functional groups, aldehyde and alcohol, present in the products