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Alkyl Group
• Members of the alkyl group are identical to the corresponding alkane, just with one less hydrogen atom.
• The molecule name of an alkyl ends with yl.
• An alkyl can’t exist on its own – it will always be attached to something
else, because it doesn’t have 4 lines coming out of the C.
Find the molecular formula for methyl.
Methane’s chemical formula is C1H4 (see Table Q – general formula of alkanes).
Since alkyls have one less hydrogen than the corresponding alkane, the molecular formula of methyl is CH3.
There are many Regents questions based on this concept.
UNIT 11: ORGANIC CHEMISTRY © 418
