Organic Chemistry Terms Starting with B
Definitions of 28 organic chemistry terms that start with B, such as Back-Side Attack, Baeyer–Villiger Oxidation, Base Peak. Plain-language explanations…
Terms starting with B
- Back-Side Attack: In SN2, the nucleophile attacks from the opposite side of the leaving group.
- Baeyer–Villiger Oxidation: Converts a ketone → ester by inserting oxygen next to the carbonyl.
- Base Peak: The tallest peak in a mass spectrum; assigned 100% intensity.
- Beer’s Law: Relates absorbance to concentration: A = εbc.
- Bending: A molecular vibration where bond angles change.
- Bent: Molecular shape where three atoms form an angle instead of a straight line.
- Benzylic Position: Carbon directly next to a benzene ring.
- Benzyne: Very reactive benzene intermediate containing a strained formal triple bond.
- Bicyclic: A molecule containing two connected rings.
- Bimolecular: A reaction step involving two reacting species.
- Biodegradable Polymers: Polymers that microorganisms or biological processes can break down.
- Birch Reduction: Reduces an aromatic ring to a 1,4-cyclohexadiene.
- Block Copolymer: Polymer made from blocks of different types of monomers.
- Blocking Group: A temporary group used to stop a particular position from reacting.
- Boat Conformation: Higher-energy cyclohexane shape compared with the chair.
- Bond Cleavage: Breaking a chemical bond.
- Bond Dissociation Energy: Energy required to break a bond homolytically.
- Bond-Line Structure: Organic drawing where carbon atoms and their hydrogens are mostly implied.
- Bonding MO: Molecular orbital that stabilizes a bond when occupied.
- Branched Polymer: Polymer with side chains branching from its main chain.
- Bredt’s Rule: A small bridged bicyclic molecule generally cannot place a double bond at a bridgehead.
- Bridgeheads: Atoms shared by multiple rings in a bridged ring system.
- Broadband Decoupling: NMR technique that removes coupling to simplify spectra, especially ¹³C NMR.
- Bromohydrin: Molecule containing Br and OH on neighboring carbons.
- Bromonium Ion: Three-membered positively charged bromine intermediate formed during alkene bromination.
- Brønsted–Lowry Acid: Proton donor. Gives H⁺ away.
- Brønsted–Lowry Base: Proton acceptor. Takes H⁺.
- π Bond: Bond formed by sideways overlap of orbitals; present in double/triple bonds.
Open a term starting with B
- Back-Side Attack
- Baeyer–Villiger Oxidation
- Base Peak
- Beer’s Law
- Bending
- Bent
- Benzylic Position
- Benzyne
- Bicyclic
- Bimolecular
- Biodegradable Polymers
- Birch Reduction
- Block Copolymer
- Blocking Group
- Boat Conformation
- Bond Cleavage
- Bond Dissociation Energy
- Bond-Line Structure
- Bonding MO
- Branched Polymer
- Bredt’s Rule
- Bridgeheads
- Broadband Decoupling
- Bromohydrin
- Bromonium Ion
- Brønsted–Lowry Acid
- Brønsted–Lowry Base
- π Bond