Nitrile

Nitrile is a functional group in organic chemistry. Chemicals that have this group are also called nitriles. The nitrile group has a triple bond between a carbon atom and a nitrogen atom. This is written . Inorganic nitriles are called cyanides.

It smells like a fruit, and can be a type of poison.

The simplest nitrile is acetonitrile (, where the nitrile is connected to a methyl group. Acrylonitrile is a nitrile used to make plastics.

 Reactions 
 With water 
Nitriles react with water. This is a type of hydrolysis. Nitriles and water react to make amides, and the amide can react further to make carboxylic acids and ammonia:

 With hydrogen 
Hydrogen gas, , is a reducing agent. Combined with a catalyst like Raney nickel, it reacts with nitriles to make amines.

Category:Functional groups
Category:Nitriles