substituent

American  

[suhb-stich-oo-uhnt] / sʌbˈstɪtʃ u ənt /

noun

1. Chemistry. an atom or atomic group that takes the place of another atom or group present in the molecule of the original compound.

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adjective

1. having been or capable of being substituted.

substituent British  

/ sʌbˈstɪtjʊənt /

noun

1. chem an atom or group that replaces another atom or group in a molecule or can be regarded as replacing an atom in a parent compound

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adjective

1. substituted or substitutable

Usage

What does substituent mean? Substituent is an adjective that can mean the same thing as substituted or substitutable (both of which are much more commonly used).The word substitutable can mean capable of being used as a substitute, but it probably more often means capable of being replaced.The related (and also uncommon) adjective substitutive is used to describe a thing capable of taking the place of or that has taken the place of another. (It can also be used to describe anything that involves such a substitution.)Substituent is an adjective form of the word substitute, which can be used as both a verb (to replace something with another thing) or as a noun (something that replaces something else).Substituent is more specifically and commonly used in the context of chemistry, in which it refers to an atom or group of atoms that replaces another atom or group of atoms in a molecule.Example: The item you ordered is not substituent, so you will be issued a refund.

Etymology

Origin of substituent

1890–95; < Latin substituent- (stem of substituēns ), present participle of substituere to substitute, equivalent to sub- sub- + -stitu-, combining form of statuere to set up, erect ( statue ) + -ent- -ent

Example Sentences

"Imagine you have a benzene ring and it has one substituent on it," Chikik added.

From Science Daily

Combining amide groups with fluorine atoms can be a particularly fruitful strategy for drug development — indeed, the bestselling drug of all time, cholesterol-reducing atorvastatin, contains both an amide and a fluorine substituent, albeit in different parts of the molecule.

From Nature

The withdrawal or addition of electron density by a substituent defines a particular pattern of electron density at the ortho, meta and para positions and primes them for directed attack by the reagent.

From Nature

Conversely, the CH–π and BH–π interactions were much less sensitive to the substituent effects, revealing that dispersion dominates in these attractions.

From Nature

The structure that was computed to determine Eint in each case is shown boxed at right; S is a variable substituent.

From Nature