Organic Chemistry and functional groups

[deleted244469]

Does anyone have any tricks/tips for identifying them? I know the formulas for each like the back of my hand, but still struggle locating them on a complicated molecule. Is it just practice, or is there some kind of strategy to it?

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[Goro]

Khan Academy

Does anyone have any tricks/tips for identifying them? I know the formulas for each like the back of my hand, but still struggle locating them on a complicated molecule. Is it just practice, or is there some kind of strategy to it?

 

[frosted_flake]

Are you talking about identifying them in a molecule or just drawing them out? Or both? 🙂

 

[ladyterp]

Flash cards helped me. I put them in line form and formula (e.g -COOH) form. Practice was helpful for me. Good luck!

 

[frosted_flake]

I found that a white board was my best friend, and drawing them until my hand hurt was the easiest way to draw them out. As far as picking them out (identifying them) from a compound, I would look through my text book and every structure I saw, I would quiz myself to see if I could pick out the functional groups.

 

[deleted244469]

Sorry, should have been more clear. I meant actually looking at a chemical structure and picking them out of it. I know the actual functional groups and structures alone. Ill check out Khan, thanks Goro.

 

[medic86]

Uhhh...

If you know them, then you should be able to see them inside a larger structure. They don't really vary.

 

[MrLogan13]

If you know what they look like and how to draw them, you should be able to easily spot them in a bond line structure. What's the problem?

 

[deleted244469]

I figured it out. Khan helped quite a bit. The "R" 's on the functional group formulas were really messing with my head (since they can be just about anything). Once I just applied the R as "rest of molecule", and wrote it in place of the carbons, everything was cake. Also, I had to break each one down. I think the size of the structure and all of the different bonds were really intimidating me.

Not to mention, once you start doing multiple examples, the structures start to "pop up" in each of them. Just takes practice.

 

[calisurfer19]

Masterorganicchemistry.com - same user name on YouTube. Great for overall conceptual knowledge. Also msu organic chemistry is great for practice problems.

 

[Fedekz]

The functional groups get to be second nature pretty quickly. Although I still get esters and ethers mixed up (I have to think about diethyl ether then it's clear to me). Just write out the functional group like R-CHO, then the group name like aldehydes, then the nomenclature like -anal, -oate, -anol, etc.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Many of the important ones are also carboxylic acid derivatives, so you could look for that common structure?

 

[razzmatazz87]

That is one of the easier parts in orgo, unfortunately. I would just memorize/draw/flashcard the BIG ones: carboxylic acids, esters, ether, alkane, alkene, alkyne, alcohol, etc. You don't need to fret too much about the less common ones, like thiols

 

[frosted_flake]

I remember a trick for alkanes, alkenes and alkynes if you don't already know them...

AlkAne - single bond
AlkEne - double bound
AlkYne - triple bond

Follows the alphabet 🙂

 

[Jplewis002]

As mentioned earlier in the thread, a dry-erase board can be extremely helpful in organic chemistry! Buy a personal dry-erase and some markers. Definitely worth the small investment.