Acetoxy group
Acetoxy group, abbreviated AcO or OAc, is a chemical functional group of the structure CH3-C(=O)-O-. It differs from the acetyl group CH3-C(=O)- by the presence of one additional oxygen atom. The name acetoxy is the short form of acetyl-oxy.
An acetoxy group may be used as a protection for an alcohol functionality in a synthetic route although the protecting group itself is called an acetyl group.
There are several options of introducing an acetoxy functionality in a molecule from an alcohol (in effect protecting the alcohol by acetylation):
An alcohol is not a particularly strong nucleophile and, when present, more powerful nucleophiles like amines will react with the above-mentioned reagents in preference to the alcohol.
For deprotection (regeneration of the alcohol)
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