In organic chemistry, a carbonyl group is a functional group composed of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom: C=O. It is common to several classes of organic compounds, as part of many larger functional groups.
The term carbonyl can also refer to carbon monoxide as a ligand in an inorganic or organometallic complex (a metal carbonyl, e.g. nickel carbonyl).
The remainder of this article concerns itself with the organic chemistry definition of carbonyl, where carbon and oxygen share a double bond.
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A carbonyl group characterizes the following types of compounds:
| Compound | Aldehyde | Ketone | Carboxylic acid | Ester | Amide | Enone | Acyl halide | Acid anhydride |
| Structure | ||||||||
| General formula | RCHO | RCOR' | RCOOH | RCOOR' | RCONR'R'' | RC(O)C(R')CR''R''' | RCOX | (RCO)2O |
Note that the most specific labels are usually employed. For example, R(CO)O(CO)R' structures are known as acid anhydride rather than the more generic ester, even though the ester motif is present.
Other organic carbonyls are urea and the carbamates, the derivatives of acyl chlorides chloroformates and phosgene, carbonate esters, thioesters, lactones, lactams, hydroxamates, and isocyanates. Examples of inorganic carbonyl compounds are carbon dioxide and carbonyl sulfide.
A special group of carbonyl compounds are 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds that have acidic protons in the central methylene unit. Examples are Meldrum's acid, diethyl malonate and acetylacetone.
Oxygen is more electronegative than carbon, and thus draws electron density away from carbon to increase the bond's polarity. Therefore, the carbonyl carbon becomes electrophilic, and thus more reactive with nucleophiles. Also, the electronegative oxygen can react with an electrophile; for example a proton in an acidic solution or other Lewis Acid.
The alpha hydrogens of a carbonyl compound are much more acidic (~103 times more acidic) than a typical C-H bond. For example, the pKa values of acetaldehyde and acetone are 16.7 and 19, respectively.[1] This is because a carbonyl is in tautomeric resonance with an enol. The deprotonation of the enol with a strong base produces an enolate, which is a powerful nucleophile and can alkylate electrophiles such as other carbonyls.
Amides are the most stable of the carbonyl couplings due to their high resonance stabilization between the nitrogen-carbon and carbon-oxygen bonds.
Carbonyl groups can be reduced by reaction with hydride reagents such as NaBH4 and LiAlH4, or catalytically by hydrogen and a catalyst such as copper chromite, Raney nickel, rhenium, ruthenium or even rhodium. Ketones give secondary alcohols; aldehydes, esters and carboxylic acids give primary alcohols.
Carbonyls would be alkylated by nucleophilic attack by organometallic reagents such as organolithium reagents and Grignard reagents. Carbonyls also may be alkylated by enolates as in aldol reactions. Carbonyls are also the prototypical groups with vinylogous reactivity, e.g. the Michael reaction where an unsaturated carbon in conjugation with the carbonyl is alkylated instead of the carbonyl itself.
Other important reactions include:
α,β-Unsaturated carbonyl compounds are an important class of carbonyl compounds with the general structure Cβ=Cα−(C=O)−. In these compounds the carbonyl group is conjugated with an alkene (hence the adjective unsaturated), from which they derive special properties. Unlike simple carbonyls, they exhibit vinylogous reactivity and can be used to form carbon-carbon bonds (as in alkylation). Examples of unsaturated carbonyls are acrolein (propenal), mesityl oxide, acrylic acid, and maleic acid. Unsaturated carbonyls can be prepared in the laboratory in an aldol reaction and in the Perkin reaction.
The carbonyl group draws electrons away from the alkene, and the alkene group is, therefore, deactivated towards an electrophile, such as bromine or hydrochloric acid.
As a general rule with unsymmetric electrophiles, hydrogen attaches itself at the α-position in an electrophilic addition. On the other hand, these compounds are activated towards nucleophiles in nucleophilic conjugate addition.
Since α,β-unsaturated compounds are electrophiles, many α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic. DNA can attack the β carbon and thus be alkylated. However, the endogenous scavenger compound glutathione naturally protects from toxic electrophiles in the body.
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