Organic Functional Groups: Summary of Presentations & Associated Reactions

Alcohols  General term “alcohol” in wine, beer etc is actually called ______ Organic chemistry term refers to any hydrocarbon with –OH fxn group  Naming alcohols is easy, IUPAC system places –ol suffix to end of molecule  Alcohols are slightly POLAR (due to electronegative O atom) and therefore dissolve in water  Larger alcohols (butanol, pentanol etc) have both polar/non-polar components and be used to dissolve both polar/non-polar solutes  Examples: methanol, menthol (peppermint), cholesterol (biologically important)  Alcohols are grouped as either: . primary C with –OH attached to 1 other carbon . secondary C with –OH attached to 2 other carbons . tertiary C with –OH attached to 3 other carbons

Reactions with Alcohols

1. Alkenes can be HYDRATED (reacted with water) to form alcohols

2. Alcohols in presence of acid catalyst can breakdown, DEHYDRATE (removal of water) top form Alkenes

3. Alcohols can be OXIDIZED into aldehydes and ketones (see under ketones)

4. A CONDENSATION reaction between two alcohols will produce an ETHER Ethers  Due to C-O-C bonds, ethers are more polar than alkanes, but LESS polar than alcohols  Ethers are prepared by DEHYDRATION rxn of two alcohols (see above)  Ethers are used to dissolve both polar and non-polar substances  Naming ETHERS: examples o Name each side of C-O-C bond; longest chain keeps alkane name, short chain gets alkane prefix “oxy” suffix.

Aldehydes and Ketones  -C=O fxn group creates polarity not as polar as alcohol, more polar than ethers  ketones are found as pheromones in various animal species; also acetone (nail-polish remover)  larger aldehydes are found in plants, create flowery odours  smaller aldehydes (example: formaldehyde used as preservative and anti-septic), unpleasant odour  naming aldehydes and ketones: examples o internal C=O, ketone, suffix –anone o terminal C=O, aldehyde, suffix -anal  Using molecules which donate oxygen atoms (summarized by (O) ), alcohols can be OXIDIZED to create aldehyde and ketone products for industrial use

 Oxidation Reaction to produce aldehydes

 Opposite reaction is hydrogenation of aldehydes into alcohols

 Oxidation Reaction to produce ketones

 Opposite reaction is hydrogenation of ketones into alcohols