Discover

In chemistry, 'methylene' is a divalent functional group CH₂ derived formally from methane. The name "methylene" is used for the following:

★ -CH₂- group (bound by two single bonds) present e.g. in dichloromethane (alternative name is methylene chloride);

★ =CH₂ group (bound by one double bond), present e.g. in formaldehyde (can be named methylene oxide, but it is not used/recommended). The better example is methylenecyclopropene.

★ :CH₂ is a carbene known as methylene, carbenes are highly reactive organic molecules with a divalent carbon atom with only six valence electrons.
Increasing the number of methylene groups in a chain or ring increases the size and the lipid nature (lipophilicity) of the compound.

Contents

See also

See also

★ methyl

★ methylidyne