Organic molecules

Table of Contents

1. Organic molecules
2. Hydrocarbons
   1. Names and structures of hydrocarbons
3. Reactions of hydrocarbons
   1. Substitution reactions
   2. Addition reactions
4. Functional groups
   1. Identifying functional groups
5. Alcohols
   1. Structure of alcohols
   2. Physical properties of alcohols
6. Reactions of alcohols
   1. Oxidation reactions
   2. Carboxylic acids
   3. Alcohols, carboxylic acids and esters
   4. Identification of alcohols
7. Nitrogen in organic molecules
   1. Amines
   2. Amino acids
8. Determination of formulae and structures
   1. Empirical formulae
   2. Molecular mass and formula

1. Additional resources:
   1. Glossary
   2. Print content

Identifying functional groups

The functional groups covered in this course are summarised in the table below.

• Note that the names should be applied to the compounds, not the functional group.
• You will also see later in the topic that some of the compounds can be classified in more ways based on the position of the functional group within the molecule.
• When considering functional groups within molecules, you also need to consider the full structures of the molecules.

Before you continue, read the following guide.

Naming organic molecules

Select each of the headings below to view animations which will help you appreciate the differences between these important functional groups. (You can also use molecular models to build the different molecules.)

For each type of compound watch the animation, and then draw a two-dimensional representation of the molecule, and draw and name one other example of a molecule that contains that functional group. Use the following summary sheet to record your information.

Organic functional groups

Esters

Esters are named in a slightly different way to the other functional groups, and these are dealt with in a future section of this topic.

Amino acids

Amino acids are compounds that actually contain two functional groups; -NH₂ and -COOH. These are also described in a later section.