Deprotonation
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Deprotonation is a chemistry term that refers to the removal of a proton (hydrogen ion H+) from a molecule, forming the conjugate base. The relative ability for a molecule to give up a proton is measured by a pKa value. A low pKa value indicates that the compound is acidic and will easiy give up its proton to a base. The pKa of a compound is determined by many things, but most significantly impacted by the conjugate base's ability (or inability) to stabilize the negative charge through resonance.
See also protonation