4-Hydroxybutanal is used in preparation of deoxykeoses and acetonides. 4-Hydroxybutanal is also a metabolite of Tegafur , a prodrug used for various cancer chemotherapies.
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4-Hydroxybutanal forms a cyclic hemiacetal when the hydroxyl oxygen add to the aldehyde group. Methanol reacts with this cyclic hemiacetal to form 2-methoxytetrahydrofuran which is our desired product.2-Methoxytetrahydrofuran is a cyclic acetal. The hydroxyl oxygen of 4-Hydroxybutanal reacts with the aldehyde to form cyclic ether linkage.
