noun

• An organic compound containing a carbonyl group CO bonded to two hydrocarbon groups, made by oxidizing secondary alcohols. The simplest such compound is acetone.

  ‘Low molecular weight aldehydes and ketones are soluble in water because the carbonyl oxygen atom allows the molecules to form strong hydrogen bonds with the molecules of water.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Over time, however, it oxidizes and chemically degrades to form alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, acids and esters.’
  • ‘In this reaction, an ester joins with another ester, a ketone, or a nitrile.’
  • ‘Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones, ethers, glycols and higher alcohols are not corrosive to magnesium and its alloys.’
  • ‘Secondary alcohols can be readily recovered from ketones by breaking the double bond between the oxygen and carbon and adding hydrogen.’