A chemical reaction in which a carbonyl group is removed from an organic compound, often releasing carbon monoxide.
From decarbonyl- + -ation (noun suffix). Emerged in organic chemistry vocabulary in the 20th century to describe a specific type of molecular decomposition or transformation.
Decarbonylation is crucial in biochemistry—cells use it to harvest energy from food molecules, and it's also used in laboratories to synthesize new compounds with specific properties.
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