Epoxides
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A category of ethers, epoxides exist as an oxygen doubly bonded to two carbon groups. Simple epoxides are named from the parent oxirane, which includes two methyl groups attached to a single oxygen. As a functional group epoxides obtain the -epoxy prefix.
Epoxides are stable, but reactive due to the immense angle strain in the oxygen atom, which is bonded to the two carbons at a 90 degree bond angle. Expoxides can be cleaved in acidic or basic solutions, as the oxygen-carbon bond is readily broken to yield a carbocation (which is subsequently electrophilically attacked) and an alcohol.