Carboxymethyl group

Carboxymethylcysteine with the carboxymethyl group marked in blue

The carboxymethyl group is an arrangement of atoms in organic chemistry . The formula is –CH ₂ CO ₂ H. It is not an independent chemical substance, but always part of a larger molecule. It is found as a substituent in a number of chemical compounds. The introduction of a carboxymethyl group into a molecule is called “ carboxymethylation ”.

In the specialist literature, the carboxymethyl group is sometimes also abbreviated to “–CH ₂ COOH”.

Carboxymethyl cellulose ( R = CH ₂ COOH)
(average degree of substitution ≈ 67%)

Examples

• The drug carboxymethylcysteine (INN name: Carbocistein) is synthesized from ( R ) - cysteine and chloroacetic acid in a basic medium.
• Carboxymethyl cellulose

Individual evidence

1. ^ PL Southwick: Direct Aromatic Carboxymethylation , Synthesis 1970, pp. 628-635.
2. ^ Otto-Albrecht Neumüller (editor): Römpps Chemie Lexikon , 8th edition, Frank'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-440-04513-7 , pp. 601-602.