Lactam


A lactam is a cyclic amide. The term is a portmanteau of the words lactone + amide.

Nomenclature

Greek prefixes in alphabetical order indicate ring size:
This ring-size nomenclature stems from the fact that a hydrolyzed α-Lactam leads to an α-amino acid and a β-Lactam to a β-amino acid, etc.

Synthesis

General synthetic methods exist for the organic synthesis of lactams.
A lactim is a cyclic carboximidic acid compound characterized by an endocyclic carbon-nitrogen double bond. They are formed when lactams undergo tautomerization.

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