Formaldehyde
An organic compound, CH2O, 30.026 g/mol. Boiling point -6 °F at 760 mmHg, melting point -134 °F, as published.
Identifiers
- Molecular formula
- CH₂O
- Molecular weight
- 30.026 g/mol
- Exact mass
- 30.010565 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- formaldehyde
- C=O
- InChI=1S/CH2O/c1-2/h1H2
- WSFSSNUMVMOOMR-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Measured properties
- Boiling Point
- -6 °F at 760 mmHg (NIOSH, 2024)
- -3.1 °F at 760 mmHg ; commercial aqueous formaldehyde boils at 205 °F (EPA, 1998)
- Melting Point
- -134 °F (NIOSH, 2024)
- -134 °F for anhydrous form (EPA, 1998)
- Density
- 0.815 at -4 °F anhydrous form (EPA, 1998) - Less dense than water; will float
- 1.08 at 77 °F (NIOSH, 2024) - Denser than water; will sink
- Solubility
- Miscible (NIOSH, 2024)
- Miscible (NIOSH, 2024)
- Vapor Pressure
- greater than 1 atm (NIOSH, 2024)
- 10 mmHg at -126.4 °F for anhydrous form (EPA, 1998)
- LogP
- 0.35
- log Kow = 0.35
- Flash Point
- 140 °F for 40% solution (EPA, 1998)
- 185 °F (NIOSH, 2024)
- Viscosity
- 0.1421 cP at 25 °C
- Refractive Index
- Index of refraction: 1.3746 at 20 °C/D /Formaldehyde soln/
Calculated properties
- Molecular weight
- 30.026 g/mol
- Exact mass
- 30.010564683 Da
- XLogP3
- 1.2
- Polar surface area
- 17.1 Ų
- Complexity
- 2
- H-bond donors
- 0
- H-bond acceptors
- 1
- logP
- -0.1849
- Topological polar surface area
- 17.07 Ų
- H-bond donors
- 0
- H-bond acceptors
- 1
- Rotatable bonds
- 0
- Molar refractivity
- 7.121 cm³/mol
- Fraction sp³ carbons
- 0
- QED drug-likeness
- 0.3606
What it is made of
Elements
Structure
- Heavy atoms, hydrogen excluded
- 2
- Total atoms, hydrogen included
- 4
- Rings
- 0
- Aromatic rings
- 0
- Stereocentres
- 0
- Formal charge
- 0
The molecule in three dimensions
The drawing above is a diagram of what is bonded to what. A molecule is not flat, and the model here is one low-energy shape generated from the connectivity — useful for seeing which groups can reach each other, and not a measured structure. A real sample is a population of conformations, interconverting.
Reactions it appears in
Other names for it
The systematic name on this record is formaldehyde.
The sources also call it formalin, methanal, formol, Formic aldehyde, Methylene oxide, Oxomethane, Oxymethylene, Methyl aldehyde, Superlysoform, Lysoform, Fannoform.
Structurally related
Seen alongside it in reaction records
Molecules that appear in the same recorded reactions as Formaldehyde. This says nothing about structure: most of them are the bases, solvents, ligands and catalysts the chemistry needed, and they are here because somebody put them in the same flask.
1,2-Dichloroethane
used as a reactant
C₂H₄Cl₂, 98.96 g/mol.
1,4-Dioxane
used as a reactant
C₄H₈O₂, 88.106 g/mol.
1,1-Dichloroethane
used as a reactant
C₂H₄Cl₂, 98.96 g/mol.
1,2-Dimethoxyethane
used as a reactant
C₄H₁₀O₂, 90.122 g/mol.
(4-Benzylpiperazin-1-yl)(4-{5-[methyl(4-trifluoromethylbenzyl)amino]pyridin-2-yloxy}phenyl)methanone
formed as a product
C₃₂H₃₁F₃N₄O₂, 560.62 g/mol.
Where these values came from
chemistry engine
What this page does not claim
Identifiers are copied from the source record, measured values are reported as published, and calculated values are marked as calculated. Nothing here is a hazard, purity or handling assessment — how the library is checked.
Where to next
More molecules under F
The rest of this shelf, a hundred names at a time.
Molar mass calculator
Work with CH2O in a calculation, with every element's contribution shown.
Molarity calculator
Grams of Formaldehyde for a volume and a concentration, or the concentration a mass gives.
Open in ReactionLens
The full record in the workstation: every atom, every bond, and the reactions it appears in.