10.1.6 Organic Families - Alcohols & Ethers

Alcohols

• Alcohols are a family of molecules that contain the hydroxyl functional group, -OH
• Their general formula is  C_nH_2n+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  C_nH_2n+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