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Medical Definition of Semialdehyde
1. The monoaldehyde of a dicarboxylic acid, so called because half the COOH groups of the original acid are reduced to the aldehyde while the other half are unchanged; e.g., glutamic acid gamma-semialdehyde, OHC-CH2CH2CH(NH3)+-COO-. Many semialdehyde's are intermediates in the biosynthesis and metabolic degradation of amino acids (e.g., l-proline, l-lysine, l-glutamate). (05 Mar 2000)