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functional group
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Diagram showing common functional groups in monomers-amine, carboxylic acid, alcohol, and isocyanate-at the top, and their resulting polymer linkages-amide, ester, and carbamate (urethane)-at the bottom, with color-coded chemical structures and connecting lines illustrating how monomers combine during polymerization.
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Jean-Baptiste-André Dumas
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Diagram showing common functional groups in monomers-amine, carboxylic acid, alcohol, and isocyanate-at the top, and their resulting polymer linkages-amide, ester, and carbamate (urethane)-at the bottom, with color-coded chemical structures and connecting lines illustrating how monomers combine during polymerization.
functional group: monomers and polymers Functional groups in monomers and polymers.

functional group

chemistry
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functional group, any of numerous combinations of atoms that form parts of chemical molecules, that undergo characteristic reactions themselves, and that in many cases influence the reactivity of the remainder of each molecule. In organic chemistry the concept of functional groups is useful as a basis for classification of large numbers of compounds according to their reactions.

Some of the common functional groups are hydroxyl, present in alcohols and phenols; carboxyl, present in carboxylic acids; carbonyl, present in aldehydes, ketones, and quinones; and nitro, present in certain organic nitrogen compounds.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Richard Pallardy.