amide
2 synonyms for amide, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — In organic chemistry, a compound formed from a carboxylic acid by swapping its hydroxyl group for an amino group.
Synonyms
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
carboxamide
acid amide
How to use amide
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
amide bond
amide group
primary amide
synthesise an amide
This is a specialist chemistry term, rarely used outside scientific or technical writing.
Etymology
The word is built from ammonia with the chemical suffix -ide, which is used to name compounds formed from a parent substance.
Full origin of amide →Frequently asked questions
What is an amide in chemistry?
It is a compound related to a carboxylic acid in which the hydroxyl group has been replaced by an amino group, or, in the inorganic sense, a compound formed from ammonia by replacing a hydrogen with a metal.
Are amides and amines the same thing?
No. An amide contains a carbonyl group attached to nitrogen, while an amine is simply a nitrogen atom attached to carbon groups without that carbonyl.
Where do amides occur naturally?
The bonds linking amino acids together in proteins are amide bonds, so amides are fundamental to biological molecules.
