Alkyl

An alkyl group is part of a molecule that is comprised of interconnected carbon and hydrogen atoms. The simplest alkyl group is a methyl group - CH 3; it occurs relatively frequently. Other examples are ethyl - CH2-CH3 and n-propyl -CH2-CH2 - CH3. The general formula of CnH2n 1 alkyl groups.

Nomenclature

Alkyl groups are present in a large number of molecules, in particular in the saturated hydrocarbons, alkanes. The name of alkyl group derives from it, and also the names of the different alkyl groups depends on the underlying alkane ( or alkene or alkyne ): The root name is extended with the suffix " -yl ", that is the ending- at is -yl replaced (or it will be a -yl appended ). The simple alkyl groups are alkanes lacking a hydrogen atom: for example, the methyl, ethyl and propyl groups of methane, ethane and propane derived. Alkyl groups are often abbreviated with -R, where the abbreviation -R but sometimes can also stand for H or even for residues with functional groups.

Depending on the length of the alkyl chain following systematic names and common names are used:

To distinguish them from the mostly aliphatic alkyl groups are aryl groups, expediently according to the impact on the rest of the molecule under an aryl group means a group that is linked to the rest of the molecule directly to the aromatic ring. There are also combinations of alkyl and aryl groups, an example is benzyl [ -CH2- C6H5 ].

Influence of an alkyl group to the rest of the molecule

• Especially branched alkyl groups affect neighboring functional groups by their space needs and reduce this steric hindrance by their reactivity.
• The longer and more numerous the alkyl groups in a compound, the worse their water solubility and the better is its solubility in nonpolar solvents.