File:AminoacidCondensation.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
condensation reaction
Sign in to saveAlso known as elimination-addition reaction
chemical reaction in which two molecules or moieties (functional groups) combine to form a larger molecule, together with the loss of a small molecule
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- combination reaction
- Image
- AminoacidCondensation.svg
Show 7 more facts
- topic's main category
- Category:Condensation reactions
- Commons category
- Condensation reactions
- described by source
- Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
- opposite of
- hydrolysis
- by-product
- water
- raw material processed
- molecule
- partially coincident with
- dehydration reaction
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Encyclopedic overview
In organic chemistry, a condensation reaction is a type of chemical reaction in which two molecules are combined to form a single molecule, usually with the loss of a small molecule such as water. If water is lost, the reaction is also known as a dehydration synthesis. However other molecules can also be lost, such as ammonia, ethanol, acetic acid and hydrogen sulfide.
The addition of the two molecules typically proceeds in a step-wise fashion to the addition product, usually in equilibrium, and with loss of a water molecule (hence the name condensation). The reaction may otherwise involve the functional groups of the molecule, and is a versatile class of reactions that can occur in acidic or basic conditions or in the presence of a catalyst. This class of reactions is a vital part of life as it is essential to the formation of peptide bonds between amino acids and to the biosynthesis of fatty acids.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “condensation reaction” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.