Term | Definition |
addition reaction | An organic reaction in which the double or triple bonds in a reactant break and re-form with another atom or group of atoms. |
alcohol | An organic compound that has a covalently bonded OH functional group attached to an alkyl group. |
aldehyde | An organic compound of the general form R-C=O that has a aldehyde group in its structure. |
aliphatic compound | A straight-chain compound or a cyclic compound formed from a straight-chain compound. |
alkane | A straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbon that contains only single bonds. |
alkene | A straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbon that contains at least one double bond. |
alkyl group | An alkane with one hydrogen atom missing. |
alkyl halide | An organic compound that contains an alkyl group and a halogen as a functional group. |
alkyne | A straight-chain aliphatic hydrocarbon that contains at least one triple bond. |
amide | An organic compound of the general form
O
II
R - C - NH 2 in which an amine takes the place of a hydroxyl group in a carboxylic acid. |
amine | An organic compound that contains ammonia (NH 3) as its parent molecule. Hydrogen atoms are often replaced by other atoms or molecules. |
amino acid | The building block of a protein; a carboxylic acid containing an amine group. |
aromatic compound | A compound that contains a benzene ring or has a structure resembling benzene's ring structure, including a cloud of delocalized electrons. |
aryl group (R-X group) | An aromatic compound with one hydrogen atom missing. |
aryl halide | An organic compound that contains an aryl group and a halogen as a functional group. |
carbohydrate | A polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone; a compound that can be hydrolyzed to form a polyhydroxy aldehyde or ketone. |
carbonyl group (C=O group) | A carbon atom with a doubly bonded oxygen atom attached to it. |
carboxyl group (COOH group) | A carbon atom with a doubly bonded oxygen atom and hydroxide group attached to it. |
carboxylic acid | An organic compound of the general from
OH
I
R - C = O that has a carboxyl group in its structure. |
condensation reaction | An organic reaction in which two compounds combine to produce water molecules; the opposite of hydrolysis. |
cyclic aliphatic compound | An organic compound that has carbon chains bonded in ring shapes. |
delocalized electron | An electron that can move between several different bonds; in benzene, an electron that can move throughout circular spaces above and below the plane of bonded nuclei. |
dipeptide | A molecule made of two amino acids joined by a peptide bond. |
disaccharide | A carbohydrate composed of two monosaccharide units. |
ester | An organic compound of the general form
O
II
R - C - O - R' in which a hydrogen atom in the carboxyl group is replaced with an alkyl group. |
esterification | A condensation reaction that produces an ester when a carboxylic acid combines with an alcohol. |
ether (R-O-R' group) | An organic compound in which an oxygen atom links two alkyl groups. |
fat | A lipid formed from a glycerol backbone and three fatty acids (carboxylic acids) in which the carbon chains are saturated. It is solid at room temperature. |
fatty acid | A carboxylic acid that has a carbon chain 12-20 carbon atoms long. This type of acid is obtained by the hydrolysis of animal fat or vegetable oils. |
functional group | An atom or group of atoms that can substitute for hydrogen in a hydrocarbon and that imparts characteristic chemical properties to that hydrocarbon. |
glycerol | A three-carbon molecule with three -OH groups that combines with fatty acids to form a fat or oil. |
hydrocarbon | An organic, nonpolar compound containing only hydrogen and carbon atoms. |
isomer | A compound that has the same formula but a different structure than another compound. |
ketone | An organic compound of the general form
O
II
R - C - R' that has a carbonyl group in the middle of the carbon chain. |
lipid | A member of the large class of organic molecules that are insoluble in water and store energy in living things. |
monosaccharide | A three- to six-carbon carbohydrate with attached hydroxyl groups and either an aldehyde or a ketone group that cannot be hydrolyzed into simpler compounds; a simple sugar such as glucose. |
nucleic acid | A large molecule that stores and translates genetic information in living cells and consists of nucleotides. |
nucleotide | The "building block" of a nucleic acid like DNA or RNA. It is made of a sugar unit, a phosphate group, and nitrogen-containing base. They are adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. |
oil | A lipid formed from a glycerol backbone and three fatty acids (carboxylic acids) in which the carbon chains are unsaturated. It is liquid at room temperature. |
organic compound | A covalently bonded carbon compound, with the exception of carbonates, carbon oxides, and carbides. These molecules are associated with the chemistry of life. |
peptide bond | The bond between an amine group of one amino acid and a carboxyl group of another. |
polyhydroxy alcohol | An alcohol that contains more than one OH group. |
polymer | A substance produced by a condensation reaction. It consists of a long chain of repeating monomer structural units. |
polypeptide | A molecule of many amino acids joined by peptide bonds. |
polysaccharide | A carbohydrate composed of many monosaccharide units. |
protein | A complex polymer structure of many amino acids joined by peptide bonds that has a molecular weight greater than 5000 u. |
saturated | Pertaining to a solution that contains the maximum amount of solute possible at a given set of conditions; pertaining to an organic compound such as a fat that contains the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms (4) and has no double or triple bonds. |
steroid | A lipid that contains a set of three six-carbon rings and one five-carbon ring, such as cholesterol. |
substitution reaction | An organic reaction in which one atom or group replaces another atom or group in a molecule. |
unsaturated | A solution that contains less than the max amt. of solute at a given set of conditions; an organic compound such as an oil that contains less than the max possible # of hydrogen atoms because it has at least 1 double or triple bond between its carbon atom |