Organic Molecules and Functional Groups A functional group is an atom or a group of atoms with characteristic chemical and physical properties. It is the reactive part of the molecule. Most organic compounds have C—C and C—H bonds A functional group determines all of the following properties of a molecule: Bonding and shape Type and strength of intermolecular forces Physical properties Nomenclature Chemical reactivity
2 Ethane: This molecule has only C — C and C — H bonds, so it has no functional group. Ethane has no polar bonds, no lone pairs, and no bonds, so it has no reactive sites. Consequently, ethane and molecules like it are very unreactive. Ethanol: This molecule has an OH group attached to its backbone. This functional group is called a hydroxy group. Ethanol has lone pairs and polar bonds that make it reactive with a variety of reagents. The hydroxy group makes the properties of ethanol very different from the properties of ethane.
3 Aromatic hydrocarbons are so named because many of the earliest known aromatic compounds had strong characteristic odors. The simplest aromatic hydrocarbon is benzene. The six-membered ring and three bonds of benzene comprise a single functional group. When a benzene ring is bonded to another group, it is called a phenyl group.
4 An organic compound is soluble in water only if it contains one polar functional group capable of hydrogen bonding with the solvent for every five C atoms it contains. For example, compare the solubility of butane and acetone in H 2 O and CCl 4 : Physical Properties—Solubility