The name "oxime" is derived from "oximide" (i.e., oxy- + amide). According to the German organic chemist Victor Meyer (1848–1897) – who, with Alois Janny, synthesized the first oximes – an "oximide" was an organic compound containing the group (=N-OH) attached to a carbon atom. The existence of oximides was questioned at the time (ca. 1882). (See page 1164 of: Victor Meyer und Alois Janny (1882a) "Ueber stickstoffhaltige Acetonderivate" (On nitrogenous derivatives of acetone), Berichte der Deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft, 15: 1164–1167.) However, in 1882, Meyer and Janny succeeded in synthesizing methylglyoxime (CH3C(=NOH)CH(=NOH)), which they named "Acetoximsäure" (acetoximic acid) (Meyer & Janny, 1882a, p. 1166). Subsequently, they synthesized 2-propanone, oxime ((CH3)2C=NOH), which they named "Acetoxim" (acetoxime), in analogy with Acetoximsäure. From Victor Meyer and Alois Janny (1882b) "Ueber die Einwirkung von Hydroxylamin auf Aceton" (On the effect of hydroxylamine on acetone), Berichte der Deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft, 15: 1324–1326, page 1324: "Die Substanz, welche wir, wegen ihrer nahen Beziehungen zur Acetoximsäure, und da sie keine sauren Eigenschaften besitzt, vorläufig Acetoxim nennen wollen, …" (The substance, which we – on account of its close relations to acetoximic acid, and since it possesses no acid properties – will, for the present, name "acetoxime," … )
Suter, C. M.; Moffett, Eugene W. (1934). «The Reduction of Aliphatic Cyanides and Oximes with Sodium and n-Butyl Alcohol». Journal of the American Chemical Society56 (2): 487-487. doi:10.1021/ja01317a502.
Robert Plapinger, Omer Owens (1956). «Notes – The Reaction of Phosphorus-Containing Enzyme Inhibitors with Some Hydroxylamine Derivatives». J. Org. Chem.21 (10): 1186. doi:10.1021/jo01116a610.
Kassa, J. (2002). «Review of oximes in the antidotal treatment of poisoning by organophosphorus nerve agents». Journal of Toxicology – Clinical Toxicology40 (6): 803. doi:10.1081/CLT-120015840.
Michelman, J; Michelman, J. S. (1965). «Furazan». Journal of Organic Chemistry30 (6): 1854–1859. doi:10.1021/jo01017a034.
