Chapter 10: Unit 3. Functional Groups

Functional groups:

A functional group is an atom or a group of atoms with characteristic chemical and physical properties. A functional group may contain a heteroatom, a multiple bond or sometimes a heteroatom with multiple bonds. Several different functional groups are generated when carbon atom is bonded to a heteroatom other than hydrogen. The heteroatoms could be Nitrogen, oxygen, Sulfur, or other simple or complex atoms. Molecules containing these functional group react according to the nature of the functional group. It doesn’t matter what else is present in other parts of the molecule.

Some common functional groups are: carbonyl, amine, carboxylic acid groups that will be discussed in detail in this ebook.