High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Octanal is an aldehyde with the chemical formula C8H16O. It occurs natuarally as a colorless or lightly yellow tinged liquid with a fruit-like odor. It is a fairly combustible liquid. It is used commercially as a component in perfumes and in flavor production for the food industry. Octanal can also be referred to as caprylic aldehyde or aldehyde C-8. The structural formula for octanal CH3(CH2)6CHO, with a molecular weight of 128.22.