Alkyl group
univalent group derived from alkanes by removal of a hydrogen atom from any carbon atom –CₙH₂ₙ₊₁
In organic chemistry, an alkyl group is an alkane missing one hydrogen atom.
The term alkyl is intentionally unspecific to include many possible substitutions.
An acyclic alkyl has the general formula of −CnH2n+1. A cycloalkyl group is derived from a cycloalkane by removal of a hydrogen atom from a ring and has the general formula −CnH2n−1.
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 −CH3.
Related concepts
Alkylation is the addition of alkyl groups to molecules, often by alkylating agents such as alkyl halides.
Alkylating antineoplastic agents are a class of compounds that are used to treat cancer. In such case, the term alkyl is used loosely.
The public source identifies “Alkyl group” as univalent group derived from alkanes by removal of a hydrogen atom from any carbon atom –CₙH₂ₙ₊₁. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Alkyl, group and univalent.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alkyl group” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.