Neutralization rules
The general idea behind the neutralization rules is to either add or remove Hs to make the formal charges on atoms neutral. Some additional notes on this:
- Individual atoms will never be neutralized if the result would leave a net charge on the molecule.
- Hs will not be added/removed to create a new charged atom in order to attain overall neutrality.
| Original | Neutralized | Notes |
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Add/remove Hs to bring charge to zero |
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Add H to bring charge to zero |
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Remove H to bring charge to zero |
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Add/remove Hs to bring charge to zero |
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Zwitterionic form |
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Adding H to neutralize carboxylic acid would leave the molecule with a charge |
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nothing to do here |
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Two symmetric choices for where to add the H to make the molecule neutral |
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"Arbitrary choice", but will be done canonically (so that the same arbitrary answer is always generated) |
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New atomic charges will not be created, even if that leads to a net neutral molecule. |
| Original | Neutralized | Parent | Notes |
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Assumes CCN(CC)CC is a salt and NCCCO is not a salt. |
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Assumes CCN(CC)CC is a salt and NCCCO is not a salt. |
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