Benzoquinones

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

  1. Organic compounds characterized by a six-membered aromatic ring with two ketone substitutions in para or ortho positions ; substances commonly used in chemical synthesis and biological studies ; molecules notable for their role in electron transfer processes and as intermediates in various reactions
  2. Chemical entities composed of a benzene ring featuring two carbonyl groups positioned opposite or adjacent each other ; compounds significant in industrial and laboratory chemistry ; chemicals renowned for participating in redox reactions and serving as functional units in organic systems
  3. Aromatic molecules containing a six-carbon ring with two oxygen atoms double bonded to carbon atoms at specific sites ; compounds applied in experimental and applied chemistry ; structures important for their electron accepting properties and involvement in metabolic pathways

Etymology: Benzoquinone is a compound built from two older chemical names, and the first of them carries a long detour through several languages. "Benzo-" traces back to benzoin, a fragrant resin from Southeast Asian trees. The Arabic phrase "lubān jāwiyy" meant "frankincense of Java," and it passed into Catalan as "benjuí," then into Middle French as "benjoin," and into English as "benzoin." Chemists later shortened it to "benzo-" to name the benzene-based family of compounds, so a word for a resin sits at the start of this one. The second part, "quinone," comes from "quinine," the bitter alkaloid extracted from cinchona bark. Its name comes from a Quechua word for the bark, which was carried to Europe in the seventeenth century. Chemists took "quin-" from that name and attached the suffix "-one," which marks a ketone, a carbon atom doubly bonded to oxygen. Quinone is therefore a ketone of a quinine-derived ring structure, and benzoquinone combines the benzene ring with that same carbonyl pattern. The plural "benzoquinones" simply refers to more than one member of this family of compounds, including the para and ortho isomers.

Synonyms: quinones, benzoquinone derivatives, aromatic ketones, cyclohexadienediones, quinonoid compounds