acyl science definition

An organic compound containing the group RCO, where R is a halogen. Acyls are formed from organic acids by replacing the hydroxyl group (OH) within the carboxyl group (COOH) with a halogen. For example, acetyl chloride (CH₃COCl) is formed by replacing the hydroxyl group of acetic acid (CH₃COOH) with a chlorine atom. The names of acyls are formed by replacing the suffix -ic of the acid's name with -yl.