Amide
A compound in which a carbonyl group is bonded directly to nitrogen.
Formula / equation
R–CO–NH₂
Unit
Dimensionless
In depth
Delocalisation of the nitrogen lone pair into the carbonyl makes amides essentially non-basic and gives the C–N bond partial double bond character, so it is planar and does not rotate freely. This rigidity is what fixes the geometry of protein backbones.
Examples in the real world
The peptide bonds linking amino acids; nylon's repeating amide links; paracetamol.