Reactivity series wikipedia series#

Reactivity series wikipedia series#

The concept of homologous series was proposed in 1843 by the French chemist Charles Gerhardt. However, if the members cannot be arranged in a linear order by a single parameter, the collection may be better called a 'chemical family' or 'class of homologous compounds' than a 'series'. The name 'homologous series' is also often used for any collection of compounds that have similar structures or include the same functional group, such as the general alkanes (straight and branched), the alkenes (olefins), the carbohydrates, etc.

(For example, the series of primary straight-chained alcohols has a hydroxyl at the end of the carbon chain.) These properties typically change gradually along the series, and the changes can often be explained by mere differences in molecular size and mass. Ĭompounds within a homologous series typically have a fixed set of functional groups that gives them similar chemical and physical properties. This can be the length of a carbon chain, for example in the straight-chained alkanes (paraffins), or it could be the number of monomers in a homopolymer such as amylose. In organic chemistry, a homologous series is a sequence of compounds with the same functional group and similar chemical properties in which the members of the series can be branched or unbranched, or differ by molecular formula of CH 2 and molecular mass of 14u. It has been suggested that portions of Homology (chemistry) be split from it and merged into this article.