A type of organic chemical compound formed when an alcohol reacts with an aldehyde or ketone, containing both hydroxyl and ether groups.
From hemi- (half) + acetal. This chemistry term describes a intermediate compound halfway between an alcohol and a full acetal.
Hemiacetals are how sugars (like glucose) exist in water—the carbon in glucose reacts with itself to form a hemiacetal structure, which is why sugars have different forms (glucose exists as both straight-chain and ring forms).
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