What are Oximes and How Are They Useful?
Many with even a casual chemistry acquaintance have heard of such compounds as hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, glycols, and so forth. But the majority have probably never heard of oximes. What are oximes? How are they formed? Are they useful? Hydroxylamine Ammonia's chemical formula is NH3. Structurally, it resembles a tripod. If one of its hydrogen atoms is replaced by an hydroxyl group, –OH, the result is hydroxylamine, NH2OH. Two Oxime Varieties Hydroxylamine combines with aldehydes1 or ketones2 to form aldoximes or ketoximes, respectively. These are two subclasses of oxime. For example, hydroxylamine combines with acetaldehyde... CH3–CHO + NH2–OH → CH3–C(H)=N–OH And hydroxylamine combines with dimethylketone... (CH3)2=O + NH2–OH → (CH3)2–C=N–OH Of course there are other synthetic pathways that can be employed to produce oximes. So the question becomes, Do oximes…