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An acetate, or ethanoate, is either a salt or ester of acetic acid.

In organic chemistry, the abbreviation Ac refers to the acetyl group. The anion and the functional group may be written as ⁻OAc and AcO⁻, or OAc respectively. Examples include HOAc and NaOAc for acetic acid and sodium acetate for the former, and EtOAc for ethyl acetate for the latter. Ac is also the symbol for the chemical element actinium, but confusion between actinium and the acetyl group is rare, since actinium has virtually no role in organic chemistry.

Salt

The acetate anion, [CH₃COO]⁻, is a carboxylate and is the conjugate base of acetic acid. The acetate ion is formed by the deprotonation of acetic acid:

CH₃COOH ⇌ CH₃COO⁻ + H⁺

Ester

An acetate ester is an ester of acetic acid, with the general formula CH₃COOR, where R is an organyl group.

Acetate can also refer to cellulose acetate, especially fibres or other derived products such as the acetate disc used in audio record production. Cellulose acetate can be found in many household products.

Structures

space-filling model of the acetate anion	ball-and-stick model of the acetate anion	structural formula of the acetate anion	resonance hybrid of the acetate anion
canonical forms of the acetate anion (or OXYANION)	skeletal formula of the acetate anion	general skeletal structure of an acetate ester	skeletal structure of the acetyl group

See also

• Acetylation
• Cellulose acetate
• Sodium acetate

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• This page was last modified on 27 May 2008, at 10:34.

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