Alcohols & Ethers
Alcohols
- Alcohols are a family of molecules that contain the hydroxyl functional group, -OH
- Their general formula is CnH2n+1OH
- The nomenclature of alcohols follows the pattern alkan + ol
- If there are two -OH groups present the molecule is called a diol
The first four Alcohols and their Structures Table
Classification of alcohols
- Alcohols are classified as primary, secondary or tertiary depending on the number of carbons attached to the functional group carbon
- This is covered in detail in Section 10.1.11
Ethers
- Ethers are a family of molecules that contain the ether functional group, R-O-R, where R is an alkyl group
- Their general formula is CnH2n+2O
- The nomenclature of ether follows the pattern alkoxy + alkane
- Sometimes you will see an older nomenclature for ethers where each R group is given an alkyl name
- For Example: CH3OCH3 is dimethyl ether and C2H5OCH3 is ethyl methyl ether
- Ethers are functional group isomers of alcohols
Ethers are useful substances