Thioester

Definition

A thioester is a compound derived from carboxylic acids where the oxygen atom in the carbonyl group (C=O) is replaced by a sulfur atom. It plays a crucial role in biochemical processes and nucleophilic acyl substitution reactions in organic chemistry.

Related terms

Carboxylic Acid:

An organic compound containing a carboxyl group (COOH), which consists of one carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom and single-bonded to another oxygen atom that is also bonded to a hydrogen atom.

Nucleophilic Acyl Substitution:

A reaction mechanism where a nucleophile displaces another group attached to an acyl (carbon-oxygen double bond) group of a carboxylic acid derivative.

Acyl Group:

A functional group derived from a carboxylic acid by removing the hydroxyl (-OH) group, represented as RCO-, where R is any hydrocarbon chain