
In
chemistry, the term amide ( or or ) is a compound with the
functional group
In organic chemistry, a functional group is a substituent or moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions regardless of the res ...
R
''n''E(=O)
''x''NR
2, where ''n'' and ''x'' may be 1 or 2, E is some element, and each R represents an
organic group or
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
.
It is a derivative of an
oxoacid
An oxyacid, oxoacid, or ternary acid is an acid that contains oxygen. Specifically, it is a compound that contains hydrogen, oxygen, and at least one other element, with at least one hydrogen atom bonded to oxygen that can dissociate to produce ...
R
''n''E(=O)
''x''OH with an
hydroxy group
In chemistry, a hydroxy or hydroxyl group is a functional group with the chemical formula and composed of one oxygen atom covalently bonded to one hydrogen atom. In organic chemistry, alcohols and carboxylic acids contain one or more hydrox ...
–OH replaced by an
amine
In chemistry, amines (, ) are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are formally derivatives of ammonia (), wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent su ...
group –NR
2.
Some important subclasses are
*
carboxamide
In organic chemistry, an amide, also known as an organic amide or a carboxamide, is a compound with the general formula , where R, R', and R″ represent organic groups or hydrogen atoms. The amide group is called a peptide bond when it i ...
s, or organic amides, where E =
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes ...
, with the general formula RC(=O)NR
2.
*
phosphoramides, where E =
phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...
, such as R
2P(=O)NR
2
*
sulfonamides
In organic chemistry, the sulfonamide functional group (also spelled sulphonamide) is an organosulfur group with the structure . It consists of a sulfonyl group () connected to an amine group (). Relatively speaking this group is unreactive. ...
, where E =
sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...
, namely RS(=O)
2NR
2
The term amide may also refer to
* amide group, a functional group –C(=O)N= consisting of a
carbonyl
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. A compound containin ...
adjacent to a
nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seve ...
atom.
* cyclic amide or
lactam
A lactam is a cyclic amide, formally derived from an amino alkanoic acid. The term is a portmanteau of the words ''lactone'' + ''amide''.
Nomenclature
Greek prefixes in alphabetical order indicate ring size:
* α-Lactam (3-atom rings)
* β-Lact ...
, a
cyclic compound
A cyclic compound (or ring compound) is a term for a compound in the field of chemistry in which one or more series of atoms in the compound is connected to form a ring. Rings may vary in size from three to many atoms, and include examples where ...
with the amide group –C(=O)N– in the ring.
*
metal amide, an
ionic compound
In chemistry, an ionic compound is a chemical compound composed of ions held together by electrostatic forces termed ionic bonding. The compound is neutral overall, but consists of positively charged ions called cations and negatively charged ...
("salt") with the
azanide
Azanide is the IUPAC-sanctioned name for the anion . The term is obscure; derivatives of are almost invariably referred to as amides, despite the fact that amide also refers to the organic functional group –. The anion is the conjugate base ...
anion H
2N
− (the
conjugate base
A conjugate acid, within the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, is a chemical compound formed when an acid donates a proton () to a base—in other words, it is a base with a hydrogen ion added to it, as in the reverse reaction it loses a ...
of
ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogeno ...
) or to a derivative thereof R
2N
−.
There is also a neutral
amino radical (•NH
2) and a positively charged NH
2+ ion called a
nitrenium ion
A nitrenium ion (also called: aminylium ion or imidonium ion (obsolete)) in organic chemistry is a reactive intermediate based on nitrogen with both an electron lone pair and a positive charge and with two substituents (). Nitrenium ions are isoe ...
, but both of these are very unstable.
See also
*
Imide
In organic chemistry, an imide is a functional group consisting of two acyl groups bound to nitrogen. The compounds are structurally related to acid anhydrides, although imides are more resistant to hydrolysis. In terms of commercial applicati ...
References
{{Functional Groups