In chemistry, acylation is the process of adding an acyl group to a compound. The compound providing the acyl group is called the acylating agent.
Because they form a strong electrophile when treated with some metal catalysts, acyl halides are commonly used as acylating agents. For example, Friedel-Crafts acylation uses acetyl chloride (CH3COCl) as the agent and aluminum chloride (AlCl3) as a catalyst to add an acetyl group to benzene:
Anhydrides of carboxylic acids are also commonly used acylating agents to acylate amines to form amides or acylate alcohols to form esters. Succinic acid is also commonly used in a specific type of acylation called succination. Oversuccination occurs when more than one succinate adds to a single compound.
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