Why is acetate written ch3coo

Printable Version. Pages: 1 2. Why are there two ways to express Acetate? This might turn out to be a stupid question, so sorry in advance if the answer is obvious. I have seen Acetate expressed as an equation especially in books in two different ways. For example. CH 3 COO - And C 2 H 3 O 2 - Now both ways say exactly the same thing regarding the number of elements etc, but what i dont understand is why have and use two ways of expressing it?

The only thing i could come up with was, one shows how it splits up cant think of the correct term!! While the other is just an overall formula. Or is it just a simple one way was the old way and now its done like this kind of thing? Thanks and sorry if its a dopey question but i cant find an explanation in the books.

Member Is Offline Mood: Semi-victorious. One is simpler, the other gives more information i. They aren't. CH3CO2 - is more accurate. There is actually a third way of expressing an acetyl group, as "Ac" OAc or AcO when referring to acetic acid , which is frequently used in organic chemistry.

Basic notation like C 2 H 3 O 2 - doesn't give any indication to the structure or the functional group producing the charge. Writing the structural formula, or CH 3 COO - , at least indicates a methyl, a carbonyl, and a deprotonated hydroxyl are present.

Nothing really beats: Housewives have vacuum cleaners and washing machines but a backyard scientist's job is never finished Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid. Yes, I've seen it used in several textbooks. It's just wrong. The two oxygens are equivalent due to resonance, and writing them as if they were different is just silly. While we are at it, I have seen acetate as both Ac- and OAc- depending on whether the Ac refers to an acetyl group or the acetate ion.

The difference probably relates to whether one is working in OC or performing elementary acid-base work. The representation below may be the most accurate but I will not be using it routinely: The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem.

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It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Inorganic nomenclature prefers cations to be written first. Oftentimes, organic chemists would even write structural formulae with a bond between oxygen and sodium as if it were hydrogen.

This is the Beilstein -type lookup formula. Finally, there are also shortened formulae. Note that this formula is not considered standard, and would need to be included in a list of abbreviations or defined otherwise if you decide to use it. Ok , both of the formulas are absolutely correct. It depends on what you want to signify , basically if you want to look from the point of view of organic chemistry then you take the second formula. I think the second formula looks much more better because it is the usual notation for sodium acetate and my vote goes to the second.

But if you want to show people something different you can obviously use the the first one. Both are correct, but the second one is more commonly used. Actually, the way of writing a molecular formula signifies the structure of the molecule.

Let me explain: There are compounds that have the same molecular formula but have different structures. Such molecules are called structural isomers. An example for a carbon compound:.