About
醛 (quán) is a modern phono-semantic compound coined by chemists to name aldehydes, organic compounds whose formyl group is typically produced by oxidizing alcohols. It combines the semantic radical 酉, associated with alcohol and fermentation, with the phonetic component 全 (quán), directly reflecting the chemical relationship between alcohols and aldehydes. Absent from classical texts, the character is used exclusively in organic chemical nomenclature.
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