Alcohol Functional Group Chemical Structure

Alcohols are important organic compounds distinguished by the hydroxy functional group. This is noted in its structural formula, in ethanol for example, as C₂H₅OH compared to its molecular formula C₂H₆HO. The 68845NV Foundation student molecular model set includes six red 2 prong 110 degree oxygen atoms for depicting the OH hydroxyl. When combined with the set's 18 hydrogens & 16 sp3 carbons, you can build hundreds of alcohol structures to help learn IUPAC alcohol naming conventions as they relate to their parent alkanes.

You can use the set's red sp3 oxygens to build a water molecule to compare them to simple alcohols such as methanol & ethanol. Both have hydroxyl groups & that form hydrogen bonds between them. Alcohols are very soluble in water & hence denoted as hydrophilic.