A chemical group consisting of one carbon atom bonded to a hydrogen atom and an oxygen atom, written as CHO, found in many organic compounds.
From formic (relating to ants and formic acid) + -yl (suffix for chemical radicals and groups). Formyl was named because it was first isolated from formic acid, which comes from Latin 'formica' meaning 'ant.'
The formyl group is chemistry's Swiss Army knife—it shows up everywhere from preservation chemicals to pharmaceuticals to fragrances, all because of one simple molecular arrangement.
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