What is a substituent?
Q: What is a substituent?
A: A substituent is an atom or group of atoms that take the position of another atom in a molecule, replacing it.
Q: What is the term used for the atom or group of atoms that gets replaced?
A: The atom or group of atoms that gets replaced is called the leaving group.
Q: How are terms such as side chain, branch and pendant group used to describe branches from a parent structure?
A: These terms have different meanings in polymer chemistry. In polymers, side chains extend from a backbone structure, while they are attached to the alpha carbon atoms of the amino acid backbone in proteins.
Q: How do organic chemists name compounds with substituent groups?
A: Organic chemistry has rules for naming compounds with substituent groups. The substituent group is listed first with a suffix to describe how it is attached to the main carbon chain. The suffix -yl is used when naming organic compounds that contain a single bond replacing one hydrogen. -ylidene and -ylidyne are used for double bonds and triple bonds respectively. When naming hydrocarbons that contain a substituent, position numbers may be used to indicate which carbon atom the substituent is attached to.
Q: What phrases are often used when describing molecules and predicting their products?
A: The phrases most-substituted and least-substituted are often used to describe molecules and predict their products.
Q: What do side chains do in polymers?
A: In polymers, side chains extend from a backbone structure
