Vinylogy the α-carbon immediately adjacent to the carbonyl, as would a simple enolate. Allylic electrophiles often react by vinylogous attack of a nucleophile rather than direct addition. A further example of vinylogous reactivity: ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) behaves as a vinylogous carboxylic acid by involvement of its carbonyl moiety, a vinyl group within the ring, and the lone pair on the hydroxyl group acting as the conjugated system. Acidity of the hydroxyl proton at the terminus of the vinyl group in ascorbic acid is more comparable to a typical carboxylic acid than an alcohol because two major resonance structures stabilize the
Chemistry of ascorbic acid acid solution. Electrolyzing the solution of potassium iodide produces iodine, which reacts with ascorbic acid. The end of process is determined by potentiometric titration in a manner similar to Karl Fischer titration. The amount of ascorbic acid can be calculated by Faraday's law. Another alternative uses "N"-bromosuccinimide (NBS) as the oxidizing agent, in the presence of potassium iodide and starch. The NBS first oxidizes the ascorbic acid; when the latter is exhausted, the NBS liberates the iodine from the potassium iodide, which then forms the blue-black complex with starch. Chemistry of ascorbic acid Ascorbic acid is an organic compound with