Definition of "carbanion" []

• An anion in which carbon carries a negative charge and an unshared pair of electrons. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The chemical interconversion of fumarase reaction, a carbanion mechanism, is the most rapid part of the reaction cycle."
• "Complete exchange would suggest a carbanion intermediate but would not implicate the enzyme as the base."
• "The carbanion intermediate analog, 2-hydroxy, 3-nitropropionate is competitive with respect to both malate and fumarate and therefore represents the intermediate species in the recycling whereas all other inhibitors are competitive with only one or the other of the substrates and therefore represent product species."