
A carbanion is an anion in which carbon has an unshared pair of electrons and bears a negative charge usually with three substituents for a total of eight valence electrons. The carbanion exists in a trigonal pyramidal geometry. Formally, a carbanion is the conjugate base of a carbon acid.
R3C-H + B− → R3C− + H-B
where B stands for the base. A carbanion is one of several reactive intermediates in organic chemistry.
== Theory ==
A carbanion is a nucleophile. The stability and reactivity of a carbanion is determined by several factors. These include
The inductive effect. Electronegative ato...