Chemistry › Section T · Organic chemistry › Topic T.2
Alcohols and ethers
Put a single oxygen atom into a hydrocarbon and you get an alcohol or an ether, depending on where it goes. That one change explains why ethanol mixes with water and boils far above propane, and why alcohols can be oxidised into a whole new family of compounds.
In this topic
- Oxygen joins the chain
- The hydroxyl group
- Naming alcohols
- Primary, secondary and tertiary
- Worked example: naming and classifying an alcohol
- Oxidising alcohols
- Ethers
- Boiling points and solubility
- Worked example: two isomers of C₄H₁₀O
- Sugars: alcohols in living things
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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