tetraederintermediate
Tetraederintermediate, in English commonly called tetrahedral intermediate, is a transient, high-energy species that arises during many nucleophilic additions to carbonyl compounds. The term may appear as tetraederintermediate in German-language texts. The essential feature is a temporary conversion of the carbonyl carbon from sp2 to sp3 hybridization, with the carbon atom bearing four single bonds as a tetrahedral center.
Formation occurs when a nucleophile attacks the carbonyl carbon, pushing electrons onto the oxygen to form
In practice, tetrahedral intermediates are central to nucleophilic acyl substitution reactions such as hydrolysis, alcoholysis, and
Usage notes: the preferred English term is tetrahedral intermediate; tetraederintermediate is a cognate spelling in some