1.5 Summary of Functional Groups

LEARNING GOALS

After   Chapter 1.5,    you will    be  able    to:

Apply   appropriate prefixes    and suffixes    for common  organic functional  groups

MCAT EXPERTISE

The "High-Yield"    badge   on  this    section indicates   that    this    content represents  one of  the top

100 topics  most    commonly    tested  on  the exam.

Table 1.2 lists the functional groups that you will need to know for the MCAT in order of priority,
with prefixes and suffixes. Carboxylic acids are the highest-priority functional group on the MCAT. In
nomenclature, use the suffix if the functional group is the highest-priority group in the molecule;
otherwise, name the group as a substituent using its prefix.

Functional  Group Prefix Suffix

Carboxylic  acid carboxy– –oic  acid

Anhydride alkanoyloxycarbonyl– anhydride

Ester alkoxycarbonyl– –oate

Amide carbamoyl–    or  amido– –amide

Aldehyde oxo– –al

Ketone oxo– or  keto– –one

Alcohol hydroxy– –ol