http://www.ck12.org Chapter 25. Organic Chemistry
25.3 Functional Groups
Lesson Objectives
- Define a functional group and explain the importance of functional groups to organic chemistry.
- Be able to identify the following functional groups in an organic molecule: alkyl halide, alcohol, ether,
aldehyde, ketone, carboxylic acid, ester, and amine. - Know how to name simple molecules containing one of the basic functional groups listed above.
- Relate the properties of organic compounds to their structures and the functional groups that they contain, and
describe the uses of some of these compounds.
Lesson Vocabulary
- alcohol
- aldehyde
- alkyl halide
- amine
- carboxylic acid
- ester
- ether
- functional group
- ketone
Check Your Understanding
Recalling Prior Knowledge
- What is hydrogen bonding, and how does it relate to the properties of compounds that are able to hydrogen
bond? - What is the Brønsted-Lowry definition of an acid and a base?
Afunctional groupis an atom or group of atoms that is primarily responsible for the properties and reactivity of
a given organic compound. A given functional group undergoes the same type of reactions in every molecule in
which it is found. In this lesson, we will give an overview of several major functional groups, concentrating on the
structure, nomenclature, and general properties of compounds that contain each group. In the following lesson, we
will study organic reactions in more detail.