Functional groups
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Chemists observed early in the study of organic compounds that certain groups of atoms and associated bonds, known as functional groups, confer specific reactivity patterns on the molecules of which they are a part. Although the properties of each of the several million organic molecules whose structure is known are unique in some way, all molecules that contain the same functional group have a similar pattern of reactivity at the functional group site. Thus, functional groups are a key organizing feature of organic chemistry. By focusing on the functional groups present in a molecule (most molecules have more than one functional group), several of the reactions that the molecule will undergo can be predicted and understood.
Because carbon-to-carbon and carbon-to-hydrogen bonds are extremely strong and the charge of the electrons in these covalent bonds is spread more or less evenly over the bonded atoms, hydrocarbons that contain only single bonds of these two types are not very reactive. The reactivity of a molecule increases if it contains one or more weak bonds or bonds that have an unequal distribution of electrons between the two atoms. If the two electrons of a covalent bond are, for one reason or another, drawn more closely to one of the bonded atoms, that atom will develop a partial negative charge and the atom to which it is bonded will develop a partial positive charge. A covalent bond in which the electron pair linking the atoms is shared unequally is known as a polar bond. Polar bonds, and any other bonds that have unique electronic properties, confer the potential for chemical reaction on the molecule in which they are present. This is because, for every reaction, one or more bonds of a molecule must be broken and new bonds formed. The presence of a partial negative charge (a region of high electron density) will draw to itself other atoms or groups of atoms that are deficient in electron density. This initiates the process of bond breaking that is a prerequisite for a chemical reaction. For these reasons, molecules with regions of increased or decreased electron density are especially important for chemical change.
There are two major bonding features that generate the reactive sites of functional groups. The first, already mentioned, is the presence of multiple bonds. Both double and triple bonds have regions of high electron density lying outside the atom-to-atom bond axis. Double and triple bonds are known as functional groups, a term that is used to identify atoms or groups of atoms within a molecule that are sites of comparatively high reactivity. A second type of reactive site results when an atom other than carbon or hydrogen (termed a heteroatom) is bonded to carbon. All heteroatoms have a greater or lesser attraction for electrons than does carbon. Thus, each bond between a carbon and a heteroatom is polar, and the degree of polarity depends on the difference between the electron-attracting properties of the two atoms. The most important atomic groupings that contain such reactive polar bonds are also able to generate functional groups.
To emphasize the generality of reactions between molecules that contain the same functional group, chemists often represent the less reactive portions of a molecule by the symbol R. Thus, all molecules that contain a double bond, however complicated, can be represented by the general formula for an alkene—i.e.,
This type of formula suggests that the molecule will undergo those reactions that are common to double bonds and that the reaction will occur at the double bond. The rest of the molecule, represented by the four R groups, will remain unchanged by the reaction occurring at the functional group site.
Molecules with more than one functional group, called polyfunctional, may have more complicated properties that result from the identity—and interconnectedness—of the multiple functional groups. Many natural products contain several functional groups located at specific sites within a large, complicated, three-dimensional structure.
A brief overview of the principal functional groups is presented here.
Alkanes
Alkanes are compounds that consist entirely of atoms of carbon and hydrogen (a class of substances known as hydrocarbons) joined to one another by single bonds. The shared electron pair in each of these single bonds occupies space directly between the two atoms; the bond generated by this shared pair is known as a sigma (σ) bond. Both carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen sigma bonds are single strong, nonpolar covalent bonds that are normally the least reactive bonds in organic molecules. Alkane sequences form the inert framework of most organic compounds. For this reason, alkanes are not formally considered a functional group. When a hydrocarbon chain is connected as a substituent to a more fundamental structural unit, it is termed an alkyl group. The simplest examples of alkanes are methane (CH4; the principal constituent of natural gas), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8; widely used as a barbecue fuel), and butane (C4H10; the liquid fuel in pocket lighters). Hydrocarbon chains commonly occur in cyclic forms, or rings; the most common example is cyclohexane (C6H12). (For a more detailed examination of these compounds, see hydrocarbon.)
Alkenes
Organic compounds are termed alkenes if they contain a carbon-carbon double bond. The shared electron pair of one of the bonds is a σ bond. The second pair of electrons occupies space on both sides of the σ bond; this shared pair constitutes a pi (π) bond. A π bond forms a region of increased electron density because the electron pair is more distant from the positively charged carbon nuclei than is the electron pair of the σ bond (see chemical bonding: The quantum mechanics of bonding). Even though a carbon-carbon double bond is very strong, a π bond will draw to itself atoms or atomic groupings that are electron-deficient, thereby initiating a process of bond-breaking that can lead to rupture of the π bond and formation of new σ bonds. A simple example of an alkene reaction, which illustrates the way in which the electronic properties of a functional group determine its reactivity, is the addition of molecular hydrogen to form alkanes, which contain only σ bonds.
Such reactions, in which the π bond of an alkene reacts to form two new σ bonds, are energetically favourable because the new bonds formed (two carbon-hydrogen σ bonds) are stronger than the bonds broken (one carbon-carbon π bond and one hydrogen-hydrogen σ bond). Because the addition of atoms to the π bond of alkenes to form new σ bonds is a general and characteristic reaction of alkenes, alkenes are said to be unsaturated. Alkanes, which cannot be transformed by addition reactions into molecules with a greater number of σ bonds, are said to be saturated.
The alkene functional group is an important one in chemistry and is widespread in nature. Some common examples (shown here) include ethylene (used to make polyethylene), 2-methyl-1,3-butadieneisoprene (used to make rubber), and vitamin A (essential for vision).
For ethene, both the carbon atoms of an alkene and the four atoms connected to the double bond lie in a single plane.
Alkynes
Molecules that contain a triple bond between two carbon atoms are known as alkynes. The triple bond is made up of one σ bond and two π bonds. As in alkenes, the π bonds constitute regions of increased electron density lying parallel to the carbon-carbon bond axis. Carbon-carbon triple bonds are very strong bonds, but reactions do occur that break the π bonds to form stronger σ bonds.
The most common example of an alkyne is ethyne (also known as acetylene), used as a fuel for oxyacetylene torches in welding applications. Alkynes are not abundant in nature, but the fungicide capillan contains two alkyne functional groups.
Aromatic hydrocarbons (arenes)
A distinctive set of physical and chemical properties is imparted to molecules that contain a functional group composed of three pairs of doubly bonded atoms (usually all carbon atoms) bonded together in the shape of a regular planar (flat) hexagon. The hexagonal ring is usually drawn with an alternating sequence of single and double bonds. The molecule benzene, C6H6, first discovered by English physicist and chemist Michael Faraday in 1825, is the smallest molecule that can contain this functional group, and arenes contain one or more benzene (or structurally similar) rings. Because benzene and many larger arenes have a strong odour, they have long been known as aromatic hydrocarbons. Benzene, and all the larger arenes, have a characteristic planar structure forced on them by the electronic requirements of the six (or more) pi electrons. When named as substituents on other structural units, the aromatic units are called aryl substituents. Naphthalene, the active component of mothballs, contains two fused benzene rings. Benzo[a]pyrene, an aromatic hydrocarbon produced in small amounts by the combustion of organic substances, contains five fused benzene rings. Like several other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, it is carcinogenic. Aromatic compounds are widely distributed in nature. Benzaldehyde, anisole, and vanillin, for example, have pleasant aromas.
![Chemical Compound. Structural diagrams of benzen, naphthalene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzaldehyde, anisole, and vanillin.](https://cdn.britannica.com/77/16477-004-0C6A95B9/Chemical-Compound-diagrams-benzo-benzen-naphthalene-anisole.jpg)