Vanillin is the common name for 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzaldehyde.
See attached figure for the structure.
Vanillin have 3 functional groups:
1) aldehyde group: R-HC=O, in which the carbon is double bonded to oxygen
2) phenolic hydroxide group: R-OH, were the hydroxyl group is bounded to a carbon from the benzene ring
3) ether group: R-O-R, were hydrogen is bounded through sigma bonds to carbons
Now for the hybridization we have:
The carbon atoms involved in the benzene ring and the red carbon atom (from the aldehyde group) have a <u>sp²</u> hybridization because they are involved in double bonds.
The carbon atom from the methoxy group (R-O-CH₃) and the blue oxygen's have a <u>sp³</u> hybridization because they are involved only in single bonds.
