An enolate anion is an anion derived by loss of a proton from the alpha carbon of a carbonyl group; it is the anion of an enol.

For instance, a base abstracts one proton from acetone to form enolate anion.

The enolate anion is stabilized by resonance and therefore the alpha hydrogen is acidic:

File:Enolate Resonance.svg

See also

• Keto-enol tautomerism

Enolate anions undergo the Mannich reaction with imminium ions.

de:Enolate nl:Enolaat

---

Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article