enone

The general structure of an enone

Methyl vinyl ketone, the simplest enone

An enone is an unsaturated chemical compound or functional group consisting of a conjugated system of an alkene and a ketone. The simplest enone is methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) or CH₂=CHCOCH₃.

As an example, an enone such as a chalcone can be synthesized in a Knoevenagel condensation. In the Meyer-Schuster rearrangement the starting compound is a propargyl alcohol.

An enone is a reactant in the Nazarov cyclization reaction and in the Rauhut-Currier reaction (dimerization).

Enone is not to be confused with Ketene (R₂C=C=O). An enamine is a cousin of an enone, with the carbonyl replaced by an amine group.

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