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Glite Dictionary
enamine

enamine

9.9
A molecule with a nitrogen atom next to a carbon double bond
  • noun
  • /ˈɛnəˌmiːn/
  • Specialized
: enamina
  • An enamine is formed when an amine reacts with a carbonyl compound, creating a double bond.

Examples

  • The chemist synthesized an enamine to use in the next step of the reaction.

  • So if you want, you want that a carbonyl group here you can do make the enamine then react with an acyl chloride.

  • Understanding the structure of an enamine is crucial for predicting its reactivity.

Surface Forms

enamine singular
enamines plural

Morphology

enamine = amine (semi-transparent) = en + amine + en

Formally en- + amine is a clear chemical formation (en- indicating a C=C unit and amine the nitrogen-containing group), but understanding 'en-' requires domain-specific chemistry knowledge not expected of average B1 learners.

Etymology

The word enamine comes from the parts en- and amine, where en- points to a 'double bond' and amine comes from 'ammonia', a common nitrogen chemical. So an enamine is an 'amine' group next to a 'double bond', which is why the name describes its structure.