A strong chemical used to sterilize medical equipment and preserve biological specimens; a five-carbon dialdehyde.
From glutaric acid (a five-carbon dicarboxylic acid) + aldehyde (chemical group with -CHO). Named for its relationship to glutar- compounds.
Glutaraldehyde is the invisible hero of hospitals—it's what sterilizes your surgical instruments and preserved the specimens in your high school biology class, yet it's named with a chemical nomenclature so specific that most people never know what they're smelling when disinfectant hits their nose!
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