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Families and homologous

series
Date
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Introduction

 There are millions of organic compounds. That could make organic chemistry confusing – but
to avoid this, the compounds are named in a very logical way.

 The rest of this chapter is about some families of organic compounds.

For these families, the name of the organic compound tells you:

 Which family it belongs to

 How many carbon atoms are in it.

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Homologous series

Refers to a series of compounds of the same

family, with the same general formula, which
differ from each other by a common structural
unit.
For example alkanes, alkenes.
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Features of homologous series

 A homologous series is a group of carbon compounds with the same general formula.

 Each member of a homologous series differs from the previous member by one CH2 group.

 Members of a homologous series have similar chemical properties, and

 There is a gradual change in physical properties as more carbon atoms are added.
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Functional groups

A functional group is the part of a molecule that

largely dictates how the molecule will react.
For example, all the alkenes have similar reactions
because they all have the same functional group, the
C=C bond.
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Key Points
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