---
title: "Enolate ion Template – Chemistry Diagram | MolDraw"
url: https://www.moldraw.com/templates/resonance-enolate/
description: "Enolate ion template: The acetone enolate: carbanion form ↔ alkoxide form; the O⁻ form is the major contributor, but the enolate reacts with most carbon…"
lang: en
publisher: Scidart Academy
generated: 2026-10-28
---
[MolDraw](https://www.moldraw.com/) › [Templates](https://www.moldraw.com/templates/) › [Resonance](https://www.moldraw.com/templates/resonance/) › Enolate ion

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# Enolate ion template

![Enolate ion template: The acetone enolate: carbanion form ↔ alkoxide form; the O⁻ form is the major contributor, but the enolate reacts with most carbon electrophiles at carbon.](https://www.moldraw.com/templates/resonance-enolate.webp)

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The acetone enolate: carbanion form ↔ alkoxide form; the O⁻ form is the major contributor, but the enolate reacts with most carbon electrophiles at carbon.

## What the template shows

- The negative charge is shared by the α-carbon and the oxygen
- carbanion form
- alkoxide form (major)
- Resonance contributors
- Acetone enolate
- Carbanion form ↔ alkoxide form
- The form with the charge on oxygen is the more important one: oxygen is more electronegative than carbon.
- The delocalisation is why α-C–H bonds of ketones are acidic (pKa about 19–20 for acetone).
- The enolate is an ambident nucleophile: alkylation and aldol reactions usually happen at carbon, silylation (Me₃SiCl) at oxygen.
- Contributors are not in equilibrium: the real species is one hybrid of them · every part of this figure is editable

Drawn with 8 atoms, 3 arrows, 2 shapes – every one editable in MolDraw.

## Sources

- [Clayden, Greeves & Warren, Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed., OUP 2012, ch. 7](https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9780199270293) Textbook
- [Smith, March's Advanced Organic Chemistry, 8th ed., Wiley 2020](https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9781119371809) Textbook

## How to use this template

1. Press **Edit in MolDraw**. The template opens on the canvas of the free MolDraw editor.
2. Change anything: move structures, edit atoms and labels, recolour highlights or delete what you do not need.
3. Add your own structures, arrows and text next to it, or combine several templates on one page.
4. Export the drawing as PNG, SVG or PDF for slides, worksheets, theses and papers.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Enolate ion template free?

You can preview the Enolate 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 Enolate 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.

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