What does cyclohexanone mean?
Cyclohexanone is a colourless, oily organic compound with the formula C₆H₁₀O, belonging to the class of cyclic ketones. Its molecule consists of a six-membered ring of carbon atoms containing a ketone carbonyl group, which gives it distinctive reactivity. Industrially it is enormously important: the vast majority of the world's output is converted either into caprolactam, the building block of nylon 6, or into adipic acid, used for nylon 6,6. Beyond polymer production, cyclohexanone serves as a solvent for resins, paints, lacquers, and insecticides, and it is a familiar substrate in teaching laboratories, where its reduction to cyclohexanol illustrates classic organic reactions. Because it is flammable and irritating, it is handled with standard chemical precautions. The word itself belongs strictly to scientific vocabulary, appearing in chemistry texts, patents, and safety documentation rather than everyday speech, yet the compound it names quietly underpins materials encountered daily.
nounA colourless, oily cyclic ketone (C₆H₁₀O) consisting of a six-membered carbon ring bearing a ketone group; it is an important industrial solvent and the principal precursor in the manufacture of nylon.
- The chemical compound C₆H₁₀O, a cyclic ketone used industrially as a solvent and as the key intermediate in producing caprolactam and adipic acid for nylon manufacture.
"The plant converts cyclohexanone into caprolactam for nylon production."
"Cyclohexanone is oxidised to adipic acid, one of the two monomers needed for nylon 6,6."
"In the organic chemistry lab, students reduced cyclohexanone to cyclohexanol using sodium borohydride."
Rarely pluralised since it refers to a single specific compound; a plural would appear only in contexts discussing derivatives or substituted variants of the compound.
"Substituted cyclohexanones are common intermediates in pharmaceutical synthesis."
That bottle of industrial solvent in a chemical plant may literally be on its way to becoming your nylon stockings — most of the world's cyclohexanone ends up as nylon 6.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cyclohexanone
The word combines three elements: 'cyclo-', from Greek 'kyklos' meaning circle or ring, indicating a closed ring structure; 'hexane', from Greek 'hex' meaning six, denoting six carbon atoms; and '-one', the standard chemical suffix for ketones introduced in the nineteenth century from German chemical nomenclature. It was coined by chemists in the late nineteenth century as systematic organic nomenclature developed alongside growing understanding of ring compounds and carbonyl chemistry.
How cyclohexanone is actually used
A technical term confined almost entirely to chemistry and industry; it carries no figurative or everyday usage. Pronunciation varies slightly between British (/ˌsɪkloʊˈhɛksənəʊn/) and American speakers, but the stress pattern is consistent.
Easily confused with cyclohexanone
Cyclohexane is a saturated hydrocarbon ring with no ketone group, whereas cyclohexanone contains a carbonyl (C=O) within the ring.
Cyclohexene contains a carbon–carbon double bond rather than the ketone carbonyl found in cyclohexanone.