I've been looking at the two reactions in the title, and I have a question about each:
1) How are you supposed to determine which carbons the double bond forms between after the
dehydration of the aldol into the enal? I know one of them is always the carbon that was attached
to the oxygen before it leaves, but what about the second carbon?
2) According to my book, the haloform reaction only occurs with methyl ketones. Why can't it also
occur with acetaldehyde? Acetaldehyde also has alpha carbons that can be deprotonated for halogenation.
1) How are you supposed to determine which carbons the double bond forms between after the
dehydration of the aldol into the enal? I know one of them is always the carbon that was attached
to the oxygen before it leaves, but what about the second carbon?
2) According to my book, the haloform reaction only occurs with methyl ketones. Why can't it also
occur with acetaldehyde? Acetaldehyde also has alpha carbons that can be deprotonated for halogenation.