What does epoxidise mean?
To epoxidise is to carry out a specific transformation in organic chemistry: converting a compound — most often an alkene, which contains a carbon–carbon double bond — into an epoxide, a highly reactive three-membered ring containing an oxygen atom bonded to two carbon atoms. The transformation is usually achieved by treating the unsaturated compound with a peracid such as mCPBA (meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid) or by catalytic methods using a metal catalyst and hydrogen peroxide. Because epoxides are strained and therefore eager to react further, epoxidising an alkene is frequently the strategic opening move in a longer synthesis, opening the door to alcohols, glycols, and many other functional groups. Chemists may also speak of selectively epoxidising just one double bond within a molecule that contains several, a task demanding careful control of conditions. The verb is technical in register and appears mainly in research papers, textbooks, and laboratory discussion; its noun counterpart, naming both the reaction and the ring-shaped product, is 'epoxide', while the process as a whole is called 'epoxidation'.
verbTo treat or react a compound so as to convert it into an epoxide, typically by adding an oxygen atom across a carbon–carbon double bond.
- To convert a compound, especially an alkene, into an epoxide by chemical reaction.
"The chemist used mCPBA to epoxidise the alkene in a single step."
"Treating the alkene with a peracid will cleanly epoxidise the double bond."
"The synthesis route requires the chemists to epoxidise the diene selectively at only one of its two double bonds."
Every time you epoxidise an alkene, you're forging one of organic chemistry's most strained three-membered rings — a structure so reactive it's the key first step in making everything from epoxy glues to drug molecules.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of epoxidise
The word combines 'epoxy', itself built from Greek roots — 'epi-' meaning 'upon' and 'oxy' meaning 'sharp' or 'acid' — with the suffix '-ise' used to form verbs denoting conversion. It entered scientific vocabulary in the twentieth century as structural organic chemistry matured and named reactions became standard practice. It shares its 'oxy' root with 'oxide', 'oxygen', and 'peroxide', all tracing back to the same Greek adjective.
Related word forms
How epoxidise is actually used
A technical term confined almost entirely to organic chemistry and related scientific literature. It is the British spelling; American usage favours 'epoxidize'. The process it names is also commonly called epoxidation.
Easily confused with epoxidise
An epoxide is the three-membered cyclic ether product itself (a noun), while to epoxidise is the verb describing the process of forming one.