Hydroxyl, Hidroxide & Hydrolisis

A hydroxyl is a chemical functional group containing an oxygen atom connected by a covalent bond to a hydrogen atom, a pairing that can be simply understood as a substructure of the water molecule. When it appears, it imparts to chemical structures some of the reactive and interactive properties of the -OH (not to be confused with the hydroxide ion OH-) of water (ionizability, hydrogen bonding, etc.). The neutral form of the hydroxyl group is a hydroxyl radical. The anion form, (OH−) is called the hydroxide anion; it bears a single negative charge largely residing on the more electronegative oxygen. Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH−. It consists of an oxygen and a hydrogen atom held together by a covalent bond, and carries a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. It functions as a base, a ligand, a nucleophile and a catalyst. The hydroxide ion forms salts, some of which dissociate in aqueous solution, liberating solvated hydroxide ions. Sodium hydroxide is a multi-million-ton per annum commodity chemical. A hydroxide attached to a strongly electropositive center may itself dissociate,[citation needed] liberating a hydrogen cation (H+), making the parent compound an acid. The corresponding electrically neutral compound •HO is the hydroxyl radical. The corresponding covalently-bound group -OH of atoms is the hydroxyl group. Hydroxide ion and hydroxyl group are nucleophiles and can act as a catalyst in organic chemistry. Many inorganic substances which bear the word "hydroxide" in their names are not ionic compounds of the hydroxide ion, but covalent compounds which contain hydroxyl groups. Hydrolysis (/haɪˈdrɒlɨsɪs/; from Greek hydro-, meaning "water", and lysis, meaning "separation") usually means the cleavage of chemical bonds by the addition of water. Where a carbohydrate is broken into its component sugar molecules by hydrolysis, this is termed saccharification. Generally, hydrolysis or saccharification is a step in the degradation of a substance.