noun
- Plural of cyclopropane; three-membered hydrocarbon rings in which three carbon atoms are bonded in a triangle, with two hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon.
Usage: chemistry; organic chemistry term
Examples
- Cyclopropanes are among the smallest cyclic organic compounds.
- The three-membered ring structure of cyclopropanes makes them highly strained molecules.
- Chemists study cyclopropanes because of their unusual reactivity.
- Cyclopropanes can undergo ring-opening reactions more readily than larger rings.
- Many natural products contain cyclopropane rings in their molecular structures.