Heteroatoms: Heteroatoms are all those atoms except carbon and hydrogen, which are present in compounds.
Examples are: oxygen, sulphur, nitrogen etc.
These heteroatoms are mainly those which form the backbone structures of different molecules.
Example:
(i) chloromethane, CH3Cl
(ii) Formaldehyde, HCHO
Functional groups are the portion of a molecule that is capable of characteristic reactions. Therefore, they determine the properties and chemistry of many organic compounds. A functional group gives an organic compound a property that is different than it would otherwise have.
The most common functional groups are:
Carbonyls (C = O), alcohol (-OH), carboxylic acids (COOH). Esters (COOR) and amines (-NH2).
Functional groups determine the following things of a molecule:
• Its melting and boiling point,
• The stability of the molecule,
• The reactivity of the molecule,
• The polarity of the molecule.
