SubstituentIn organic chemistry, a substituent is one or a group of atoms that replaces (one or more) atoms, thereby becoming a moiety in the resultant (new) molecule. (in organic chemistry and biochemistry, the terms substituent and functional group, as well as side chain and pendant group, are used almost interchangeably to describe those branches from the parent structure, though certain distinctions are made in polymer chemistry. In polymers, side chains extend from the backbone structure.
BenzeneBenzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar ring with one hydrogen atom attached to each. Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms, benzene is classed as a hydrocarbon. Benzene is a natural constituent of petroleum and is one of the elementary petrochemicals. Due to the cyclic continuous pi bonds between the carbon atoms, benzene is classed as an aromatic hydrocarbon.
Electrophilic aromatic substitutionElectrophilic aromatic substitution is an organic reaction in which an atom that is attached to an aromatic system (usually hydrogen) is replaced by an electrophile. Some of the most important electrophilic aromatic substitutions are aromatic nitration, aromatic halogenation, aromatic sulfonation, and alkylation and acylation Friedel–Crafts reaction. The most widely practised example of this reaction is the ethylation of benzene. Approximately 24,700,000 tons were produced in 1999.
CarbanionIn organic chemistry, a carbanion is an anion in which carbon is negatively charged. Formally, a carbanion is the conjugate base of a carbon acid: where B stands for the base. The carbanions formed from deprotonation of alkanes (at an sp3 carbon), alkenes (at an sp2 carbon), arenes (at an sp2 carbon), and alkynes (at an sp carbon) are known as alkyl, alkenyl (vinyl), aryl, and alkynyl (acetylide) anions, respectively.
Alkyl groupIn organic chemistry, an alkyl group is an alkane missing one hydrogen. The term alkyl is intentionally unspecific to include many possible substitutions. An acyclic alkyl has the general formula of . A cycloalkyl group is derived from a cycloalkane by removal of a hydrogen atom from a ring and has the general formula . Typically an alkyl is a part of a larger molecule. In structural formulae, the symbol R is used to designate a generic (unspecified) alkyl group. The smallest alkyl group is methyl, with the formula .
