Related Concept Videos

Structure and Nomenclature of Alcohols and Phenols02:23

Structure and Nomenclature of Alcohols and Phenols

Overview
Alcohols are one of the most important functional groups in organic chemistry. The name of alcohol comes from the hydrocarbon from which it is derived. Alcohols are organic molecules containing the functional hydroxyl or –OH group directly bonded to carbon. Phenols have an OH group directly attached to a benzene ring. While alcohols are colorless, phenol is a white crystalline compound with a characteristic "hospital smell" odor.
As with other organic compounds, alcohols and phenols...
Acidity and Basicity of Alcohols and Phenols02:36

Acidity and Basicity of Alcohols and Phenols

Like water, alcohols are weak acids and bases. This is attributed to the polarization of the O–H bond making the hydrogen partially positive. Moreover, the electron pairs on the oxygen atom of alcohol make it both basic and nucleophilic. Protonation of an alcohol converts hydroxide, a poor leaving group, into water—a good one. The two acid–base equilibria corresponding to ethanol are depicted below.
ortho–para-Directing Activators: –CH3, –OH, –⁠NH2, –OCH301:11

orthopara-Directing Activators: –CH3, –OH, –⁠NH2, –OCH3

All ortho–para directors, excluding halogens, are activating groups. These groups donate electrons to the ring, making the ring carbons electron-rich. Consequently, the reactivity of the aromatic ring towards electrophilic substitution increases. For instance, the nitration of anisole is about 10,000 times faster than the nitration of benzene. The electron-donating effect of the methoxy group in anisole activates the ortho and para positions on the ring and stabilizes the corresponding...
Aldehydes and Ketones to Alkenes: Wittig Reaction Mechanism01:14

Aldehydes and Ketones to Alkenes: Wittig Reaction Mechanism

The Wittig reaction, which converts aldehydes or ketones to alkenes using phosphorus ylides, proceeds through a nucleophilic addition‒elimination process.
The reaction begins with the nucleophilic addition between a phosphorus ylide and the carbonyl compound. Due to its carbanionic character, phosphorus ylide acts as a strong nucleophile and attacks the electrophilic carbonyl group. This generates a charge-separated dipolar intermediate called betaine. The negatively charged oxygen atom and...
Nomenclature of Aryl and Heterocyclic Amines01:10

Nomenclature of Aryl and Heterocyclic Amines

The simplest aromatic amine is phenylamine, which contains an –NH2 functionality directly attached to an aromatic ring. The name aniline is designated for this skeleton. As shown in Figure 1, the common names of the functionalized anilines involve prefixes ortho-, meta-, and para- to indicate the substitution position. Different functionalized aniline derivatives also have notable trivial names.
¹H NMR: Pople Notation01:09

¹H NMR: Pople Notation

The Pople nomenclature system classifies spin systems based on the difference between their chemical shifts. Coupled spins are denoted by capital letters with subscripts indicating the number of equivalent nuclei. When the coupled nuclei have well-separated chemical shifts, they are assigned letters that are far apart in the alphabet, such as A and X. When the difference in chemical shifts is small, coupled nuclei are named using adjacent letters of the alphabet (AB, MN, or XY).
A proton...