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Acylium ion template
Premium template. Preview and edit it free in MolDraw; downloading and exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro.
The acetyl cation CH₃CO⁺: the carbocation form ↔ the oxonium form with C≡O⁺, in which every atom has an octet.
What the template shows
- An oxygen lone pair fills the empty orbital of the carbocation
- carbocation form
- oxonium form (major)
- Resonance contributors
- Acetylium ion
- Carbocation form ↔ oxonium form
- The C≡O⁺ form is the major contributor: every atom has a full octet, even though the charge sits on the more electronegative oxygen.
- The ion is linear (sp carbon) and does not rearrange, unlike alkyl carbocations.
- It is the electrophile in Friedel–Crafts acylation (RCOCl + AlCl₃).
- Contributors are not in equilibrium: the real species is one hybrid of them · every part of this figure is editable
Drawn with 6 atoms, 2 arrows, 2 shapes – every one editable in MolDraw.
Sources
How to use this template
- Press Edit in MolDraw. The template opens on the canvas of the free MolDraw editor.
- Change anything: move structures, edit atoms and labels, recolour highlights or delete what you do not need.
- Add your own structures, arrows and text next to it, or combine several templates on one page.
- Export the drawing as PNG, SVG or PDF for slides, worksheets, theses and papers.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Acylium ion template free?
You can preview the Acylium ion template here and open and edit it in MolDraw for free. Downloading or exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro, together with the other premium templates.
Can I edit the Acylium ion template?
Yes. It opens as an ordinary MolDraw drawing, so every structure, arrow, label and colour can be changed, and you can add your own content around it.
Is the chemistry checked?
Every structure is checked with RDKit and every curly arrow passes MolDraw’s electron-flow audit. The sources used are listed on this page.
How are resonance structures shown?
Each contributor is drawn separately, joined by double-headed resonance arrows, with curly arrows showing how the electrons move from one contributor to the next.