Oxonium ionIn chemistry, an oxonium ion is any cation containing an oxygen atom that has three bonds and 1+ formal charge. The simplest oxonium ion is the hydronium ion (). Hydronium is one of a series of oxonium ions with the formula RnH3−nO+. Oxygen is usually pyramidal with an sp3 hybridization. Those with n = 1 are called primary oxonium ions, an example being protonated alcohol (e.g. methanol). In acidic media, the oxonium functional group produced by protonating an alcohol can be a leaving group in the E2 elimination reaction.
PhosphoniumIn chemistry, the term phosphonium (more obscurely: phosphinium) describes polyatomic cations with the chemical formula PR4+ (where R is a hydrogen or an alkyl, aryl, or halide group). These cations have tetrahedral structures. The salts are generally colorless or take the color of the anions. The parent phosphonium is PH4+ as found in the iodide salt, phosphonium iodide.
Quaternary ammonium cationIn chemistry, quaternary ammonium cations, also known as quats, are positively-charged polyatomic ions of the structure , where R is an alkyl group, an aryl group or organyl group. Unlike the ammonium ion () and the primary, secondary, or tertiary ammonium cations, the quaternary ammonium cations are permanently charged, independent of the pH of their solution. Quaternary ammonium salts or quaternary ammonium compounds (called quaternary amines in oilfield parlance) are salts of quaternary ammonium cations.
AmmoniumThe ammonium cation is a positively charged polyatomic ion with the chemical formula or . It is formed by the protonation of ammonia (). Ammonium is also a general name for positively charged (protonated) substituted amines and quaternary ammonium cations (), where one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by organic or other groups (indicated by R). The ammonium ion is generated when ammonia, a weak base, reacts with Brønsted acids (proton donors): The ammonium ion is mildly acidic, reacting with Brønsted bases to return to the uncharged ammonia molecule: Thus, the treatment of concentrated solutions of ammonium salts with a strong base gives ammonia.
YlideAn ylide or ylid (ˈɪlɪd) is a neutral dipolar molecule containing a formally negatively charged atom (usually a carbanion) directly attached to a heteroatom with a formal positive charge (usually nitrogen, phosphorus or sulfur), and in which both atoms have full octets of electrons. The result can be viewed as a structure in which two adjacent atoms are connected by both a covalent and an ionic bond; normally written X+–Y−. Ylides are thus 1,2-dipolar compounds, and a subclass of zwitterions.
Sulfide (organic)In organic chemistry, an organic sulfide (British English sulphide) or thioether is an organosulfur functional group with the connectivity as shown on right. Like many other sulfur-containing compounds, volatile sulfides have foul odors. A sulfide is similar to an ether except that it contains a sulfur atom in place of the oxygen. The grouping of oxygen and sulfur in the periodic table suggests that the chemical properties of ethers and sulfides are somewhat similar, though the extent to which this is true in practice varies depending on the application.
CarbocationA carbocation is an ion with a positively charged carbon atom. Among the simplest examples are the methenium CH3+, methanium CH5+ and vinyl C2H3+ cations. Occasionally, carbocations that bear more than one positively charged carbon atom are also encountered (e.g., ethylene dication C2H42+). Until the early 1970s, all carbocations were called carbonium ions. In the present-day definition given by the IUPAC, a carbocation is any even-electron cation with significant partial positive charge on a carbon atom.
