Functional Groups Flashcards, test questions and answers

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What is Functional Groups?

Functional groups are specific atoms or combinations of atoms that have characteristic chemical properties. They play a major role in the structure and reactivity of molecules, and they are responsible for the characteristic properties of organic molecules such as alcohols, amines, carboxylic acids, and many others. Functional groups can be found in both organic and inorganic compounds. In organic compounds, functional groups are attached to an organic backbone, usually a carbon chain. Inorganic compounds may contain functional groups as well but typically lack an organic backbone. The most common functional group is the hydroxyl group (OH), which is found in alcohols such as ethanol (CH3CH2OH) and phenol (C6H5OH). Alcohols are important solvents used in chemical synthesis as well as industrial applications such as cleaning agents. Other common functional groups include amines (NH2), carboxylic acids (COOH), thiols (-SH), halides (-Cl, -Br, -F etc.), sulfonic acid (SO3H) and phosphoric acid (PO4H). Functional groups have different reactivities depending on their structure. For example, alcohols can undergo oxidation reactions while amines can form complexes by binding to Lewis bases such as ammonia or water. Carboxylic acids can form esters or salts with bases while halides generally undergo substitution reactions with nucleophiles like water or methanol. These different reactivities allow for useful modifications to be made on molecules that would otherwise be unreactive due to steric hindrance or other factors. In summary; Functional Groups are essential components of molecular structure which give them very specific chemical properties that make them ideal for use in many different applications including medicinal drugs and other industrial chemicals.