Vinylene group


In chemistry, vinylene is a divalent functional group with formula −CH=CH−; namely, two carbons, each connected to the other by a double bond, to an hydrogen atom by a single bond, and to the rest of the molecule by another single bond.
This group can be viewed as a molecule of ethene with an hydrogen removed from each carbon; or a vinyl group −CH=CH2 with one hydrogen removed from the terminal carbon. It should not be confused with the vinylidene group =C=CH2 or >C=CH2.
A vinylene unit attached to two distinct atoms other than hydrogen is a source of cis-trans isomerism.
The vinylene group is the repeating unit in polyacetylene and in polyenes.