ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Deprotonation

Okay, so you know how we have atoms that make up everything around us, right? And sometimes atoms can share electrons with each other to make molecules.

Now, some molecules have what we call "protons". These are like little particles that sit in the center of the atom and give it a positive charge.

Deprotonation is when a molecule loses one of its protons. It's kind of like taking away one of the building blocks that makes the molecule.

When a molecule loses a proton, it becomes negatively charged. This happens because there are now more negatively charged electrons than positively charged protons in the molecule.

Scientists use deprotonation to study and understand how different molecules react with each other. It's also important in a lot of chemical reactions because it can change the way the molecules interact with each other.

So, that's deprotonation in a nutshell - it's when a molecule loses one of its building blocks (protons) and becomes negatively charged.