Acyyliryhmään

Acyyliryhmään, also known as an acyl group, is a functional group that consists of a carbonyl group bonded to an alkyl or aryl group. It is derived from a carboxylic acid by the removal of the hydroxyl group. The general formula for an acyl group is R-C=O, where R represents the alkyl or aryl substituent.

Acyl groups are fundamental building blocks in organic chemistry and are present in a wide variety of organic compounds, including esters, amides, and acid halides. For example, in the ester ethyl acetate, the acetyl group (CH3-C=O) is bonded to an ethoxy group (O-CH2CH3). In amides, the acyl group is bonded to a nitrogen atom. Acid halides, such as acetyl chloride, feature an acyl group bonded to a halogen atom.

The reactivity of an acyl group is largely determined by the electronegativity of the atom bonded to the carbonyl carbon. The carbonyl carbon is electrophilic due to the polarization of the C=O double bond, making it susceptible to nucleophilic attack. This property is central to many organic reactions, including esterification, amidation, and acyl nucleophilic substitution. Acyl groups play crucial roles in biological processes, such as the formation of peptide bonds in proteins and the synthesis of lipids.