"Ode to an Acetal"
(to the tune of "If Ever I Would Leave You")

If ever I would cleave you, I couldn't use hydroxide,
Knowing that in base you have nothing to do,
But if I use acid, you pick up a pal,
And then water enters: hemiacetal.

Yes if I'd ever cleave you, it'd have to be in acid,
Putting you in acid, you pick up protons,
No, no not in base but in acid you divide,
And waiting at the end, aldehyde.

by David Reingold
Juniata College