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Glite Dictionary
carbene

carbene

1 9.9
A very reactive molecule with one carbon atom that has two bonds and two electrons not shared with other atoms
  • noun
  • /ˈkɑːrbiːn/
  • Specialized
: carbeno
  • In the presence of a carbene, reactions proceed more rapidly due to its unique bonding characteristics.

So in the end, you end up with a carbene with two hydrogens here, OK?

Examples

  • A carbene is a highly reactive species often used in organic synthesis to facilitate various chemical reactions.

  • So in the end, you end up with a carbene with two hydrogens here, OK?

    MIT OpenCourseWare

  • It had to do with carbenes (something new and hot in the spring of '61).

    Blog text (17)

  • Researchers discovered that the stability of the carbene makes it an essential intermediate in many catalytic processes.

Surface Forms

carbene singular
carbenes plural

Morphology

carbene = carbon (opaque) = carb + ene

Although built from the element name 'carbon' plus the chemical suffix '-ene', the technical meaning (a divalent, highly reactive species) is specialized and not derivable from the base by a typical B1 learner.

Etymology

Carbene combines carbon, which comes from a word for 'coal', with the ending -ene, which is used in names like ethene to show a reactive form of a molecule. So a carbene is a very reactive form of carbon that often exists only for a short time in chemical reactions.