Hydroxyl group : Hydroxyl group (also called hydroxyl) OH-, a compound functional group is of one atom of oxygen and one of hydrogen , characteristic of alcohols . It has an oxidation number of -1 unit, it is sigma-acceptor and pi-giver.
Alcohols
Those saturated hydrocarbons, or alkanes that contain a hydroxyl group (-OH) as a substitute for a covalently bonded hydrogen atom. Alcohols can be primary, secondary or tertiary, depending on the number of hydrogen atoms substituted on the carbon atom to which the hydroxyl group is attached.
- Primary alcohol: primaryalcohols react very slowly. Since they cannot form carbocations, the activated primary alcohol remains in solution until it is attacked by the chloride ion. With a primary alcohol, the reaction can take anywhere from thirty minutes to several days.
- Secondary alcohol: secondaryalcohols take less time, between 5 and 20 minutes, because secondary carbocations are less stable than primary ones.
- Tertiary alcohol: Tertiaryalcohols react almost instantaneously, because they form relatively stable tertiary carbocations.
