Aromatic amines are produced by three types of reactions: Reductions: using metallic elements like Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Tin (Sn), Aluminum (Al), or their corresponding salts; sulfur-containing compounds; electrochemical procedures; and catalytic hydrogenation. Nucleophilic substitutions: involving the exchange of substituents like halogen, hydroxyl, alkoxy, and sulfonic groups. Rearrangements and degradations: including transformations such as the benzidine and Beckmann rearrangements, along with the Schmidt and Hofmann degradations. It should be noted that the first two reaction types are more important. Chemical rearrangements and degradations rarely result in pure reaction products with high yields.

The primary method of producing aldehydes is oxo synthesis, achieved by mild oxidation (dehydrogenation) of primary alcohols and specialized olefin oxidation processes. In the essential oils of various plants, trace amounts of aldehydes occur naturally. Acetaldehyde, a byproduct of alcohol fermentation, forms by the decarboxylation of the intermediary pyruvic acid.

Production of aliphatic alcohols occurs by various industrial processes, some of which are listed below: Synthesis from carbon monoxide and hydrogen (C1) Oxo synthesis, often accompanied by hydrogenation of initially formed aldehydes (C3 - C20) Hydrogenation of aldehydes, carboxylic acids, or esters Aldol condensation of lower aldehydes followed by hydrogenation of the alkenals (C3 → C6, C4 → C8, C8 → C16) Oxidation of trialkylaluminum compounds (Ziegler process) Oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons Hydration of olefins (C2–C4) Homologation of alcohols Hydrocarbonylation by the Reppe process Hydrocarboxymethylation Fermentation processes (C2–C5) Guerbet process