Identification of Functional Groups

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to observe chemical reactions characteristic of common organic functional groups. The observations will be used to identify a set of unknown compounds Introduction: Most organic and biochemical compounds are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and a few other elements (such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur). These compounds participate in a wide variety of reactions generally related to molecular structure. Distinctive arrangements of atoms and bonds, known as functional groups, are responsible for the reactivity of families of organic compounds.