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Formaldehyde (IUPAC name methanal) is a chemical compound with the formula H2CO. It is the simplest aldehyde. Formaldehyde exists in several forms aside from H2CO: the cyclic trimer trioxane and the polymer paraformaldehyde. It exists in water as the hydrate H2C(OH)2. Aqueous solutions of formaldehyde are referred to as formalin. “100%” formalin consists of a saturated solution of formaldehyde (roughly 40% by mass) in water, with a small amount of stabilizer, usually methanol to limit oxidation and polymerization. It is produced on a substantial scale of 6M tons/y. In view of its widespread use, toxicity, and volatility, exposure to formaldehyde is significant consideration for human health.[1]
Formaldehyde is an intermediate in the oxidation (or combustion) of methane as well as other carbon compounds, e.g. forest fires, in automobile exhaust, and in tobacco smoke. When produced in the atmosphere by the action of sunlight and oxygen on atmospheric methane and other hydrocarbons, it becomes part of smog.
Formaldehyde, as well as its oligomers and hydrates are rarely encountered in living organisms. Methanogenesis proceeds via the equivalent of formaldehyde, but this one-carbon species is masked as a methylene group in methanopterin. Formaldehyde is the primary cause of methanol’s toxicity, since methanol is metabolised into toxic formaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase. Formaldehyde is converted to formic acid in the body.
Formaldehyde was first discovered in interstellar space in 1969 by L. Snyder et al.. using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. H2CO was detected by means of the 111 – 110 ground state rotational transition at 4830 MHz [2].
Formaldehyde was the first polyatomic organic molecule detected in the interstellar medium[3] and since its initial detection has been observed in many regions of the galaxy. The isotopic ratio of [12C]/[13C] was determined to be about or less than 50% in the galactic disk [4]. Formaldehyde has been used to map out kinematic features of dense clouds located near Gould’s Belt of local bright stars [5]. In 2007, the first H2CO 6 cm maser flare was detected[6]. It was a short duration outburst in IRAS 18566 + 0408 that produced a line profile consistent with the superposition of two Gaussian components, which leads to the belief that an event outside the maser gas triggered simultaneous flares at two different locations[6]. Although this was the first maser flare detected, H2CO masers have been observed since 1974 by Downes and Wilson in NGC 7538[7]. According to Araya et al.., H2CO are different from other masers in that they are weaker than most other masers (such as OH, CH3OH, and H2O) and have only been detected near very young massive stellar objects [8]. Unlike OH, H2O, and CH3OH, only five galactic star forming regions have associated formaldehyde maser emission, which has only been observed through the 110 ? 111 transition[7]. Because of the widespread interest in interstellar formaldehyde it has recently been extensively studied, yielding new extragalactic sources, including NGC 253, NGC 520, NGC 660, NGC 891, NGC 2903, NGC 3079, NGC 3628, NGC 6240, NGC 6946, IC 342, IC 860, Arp 55, Arp 220, M82, M83, IRAS 10173+0828, IRAS 15107+0724, and IRAS 17468+1320[9].
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