Overview of Functional Groups
Alcohol, Aldehyde, Ketone, CarboxylicAcid, AcylChloride(orAcidChloride), Ester, Ether,
Amine, Sulfide, and Thiol. After you’ve learned all these, add a couple more cards and learn
those. Then add a few more and learn those. Every functional group below is eventually
discussed at one point or another in the book. But the above list will give you what you
need to continue on.
And don’t just look at the cards. Say and write the names and draw the structures. To
test yourself, try going through your cards and looking at the names and then drawing
their structure on a sheet of paper. Then try going through and looking at the structures
and naming them. Writing is a good technique to help you memorize, because it is more
active than simply reading. Once you have the minimal list above memorized backwards
and forwards, you’re ready to move on. But don’t stop learning the groups. If you choose
to move on without learning the ”lingo”, then you’re not going to understand the language
of the chapters to come. Again, using the French analogy, it’s like trying to ignore learning
the vocabulary and then picking up a novel in French and expecting to be able to read it.
129.2.1 Functional groups containing ...
In organic chemistry^1 functional groupsare submolecular structural motifs, characterized
by specific elemental composition and connectivity, that confer reactivity upon the molecule
that contains them.
Common functional groups include: