Difference Between Benzaldehyde and Benzophenone

The key difference between benzaldehyde and benzophenone is that benzaldehyde is an aldehyde, whereas benzophenone is a ketone.

Both benzaldehyde and benzophenone are aromatic carbonyl compounds. However, benzaldehyde has one phenyl group attached to the carbonyl group because the other side of this carbonyl carbon has a hydrogen atom since it is an aldehyde. But, in benzophenone, both sides of the carbonyl carbon have phenyl groups.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Benzaldehyde
3. What is Benzophenone
4. Side by Side Comparison – Benzaldehyde vs Benzophenone in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Benzaldehyde?

Benzaldehyde is an aromatic aldehyde having the chemical formula C₆H₅CHO. It has a phenyl group attached to an aldehyde functional group. Moreover, it is the simplest aromatic aldehyde. It occurs as a colourless liquid and has an almond-like characteristic odour. Also, its molar mass is 106.12 g/mol. And, its melting point is -57.12 °C while the boiling point is 178.1 °C.

Concerning the production of benzaldehyde, the main routes of the production of this compound are liquid phase chlorination and oxidation of toluene. However, this compound also occurs naturally in many foods as well; for example, in almonds. Therefore, one of the major uses of this compound is its use as an almond flavour in foods and scented products.

What is Benzophenone?

Benzophenone is an aromatic ketone having the chemical formula C13H10O. It is an aromatic ketone and has two benzene rings attached to the same carbon atom of the carbonyl group. We can abbreviate it as Ph2O where Ph refers to “phenol” (another name for benzene ring).

Looking at the properties of benzophenone, its molar mass is 182.22 g/mol. It has a Geranium-like odour, and it occurs as a white solid at standard temperature and pressure. Moreover, this compound is insoluble in water but, soluble in some organic solvents. The melting point is 48.5 °C while the boiling point is 305.4 °C. Besides, we can produce this compound via the copper-catalyzed oxidation of diphenylmethane with air.

When considering the uses of benzophenone, it is useful as a building block for the synthesis of many organic compounds, as a photo-initiator in UV curing applications, as a UV blocker for plastic packages, etc.

What is the Difference Between Benzaldehyde and Benzophenone?

Benzaldehyde is an aromatic aldehyde having the chemical formula C₆H₅CHO while Benzophenone is an aromatic ketone having the chemical formula C₁₃H₁₀O. So, the key difference between benzaldehyde and benzophenone is that the benzaldehyde is an aldehyde, whereas the benzophenone is a ketone. Furthermore, benzaldehyde has an almond-like characteristic odour, but benzophenone has a geranium-like odour.

Moreover, when considering the chemical structures of these compounds, the difference between benzaldehyde and benzophenone is that the benzaldehyde has a phenyl group attached to an aldehyde functional group, whereas the benzophenone has two phenyl groups attached to both sides of carbonyl carbon.

Below infographic shows more comparisons regarding the difference between benzaldehyde and benzophenone.

Summary – Benzaldehyde vs Benzophenone

Benzaldehyde is an aromatic aldehyde having the chemical formula C₆H₅CHO while Benzophenone is an aromatic ketone having the chemical formula C₁₃H₁₀O. In summary, the key difference between benzaldehyde and benzophenone is that benzaldehyde is an aldehyde, whereas benzophenone is a ketone.

Reference:

1. “Benzaldehyde.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 June 2019, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Benzaldehyde” By NEUROtiker – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Benzophenon” By Wikimuzg – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia