Moiety (chemistry)

Benzyl acetate has an ester functional group (in red), an acetyl moiety (circled with dark green) and a benzyloxy moiety (circled with light orange). Other divisions can be made.

In organic chemistry moiety (/ˈmɔɪəti/) is a term used for part of a molecule.[1] Larger moieties are often functional groups.[2]

A functional group is a moiety that participates in similar chemical reactions in most molecules that contain it.[3] In turn the parts of the group are termed moieties. For example, methyl p-hydroxybenzoate contains a phenol functional group within the acyl moiety, which in turn is part of the paraben moiety.

Moieties that are branches extending from the backbone of a hydrocarbon molecule, which can often be broken off and substituted with others, are called substituents or side chains.

See also

References

  1. "moiety". IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the "Gold Book") (2 ed.). Blackwell Scientific Publications. 2014-02-24. doi:10.1351/goldbook.M03968. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
  2. Mezey, P. G. (October 1996). "Functional Groups in Quantum Chemistry". Advances in Quantum Chemistry. 27: 165. ISBN 978-0-08-058252-8.
  3. "functional group". IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the "Gold Book") (2 ed.). Blackwell Scientific Publications. 2014-02-24. doi:10.1351/goldbook.F02555. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
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