Skip to main content

Chemistry

Search from vocabulary

Concept information

Preferred term

lactone  

Definition

  • Lactones are cyclic carboxylic esters, containing a 1-oxacycloalkan-2-one structure, or analogues having unsaturation or heteroatoms replacing one or more carbon atoms of the ring. Lactones are formed by intramolecular esterification of the corresponding hydroxycarboxylic acids, which takes place spontaneously when the ring that is formed is five- or six-membered. Lactones with three- or four-membered rings (α-lactones and β-lactones) are very reactive, making their isolation difficult. Special methods are normally required for the laboratory synthesis of small-ring lactones as well as those that contain rings larger than six-membered. (From DBpedia)

In other languages

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/37T-N393T9G2-X

Download this concept: