Skip to main content
hydroxyl group

hydroxyl group

6.5
A part of a molecule with one oxygen and one hydrogen atom found in alcohols
  • noun
  • /haɪˈdrɒksɪl ɡruːp/
  • Specialized
translation icon : grupo hidroxilo
  • In organic chemistry, a hydroxyl group consists of one oxygen atom bonded to one hydrogen atom, which is often found in alcohol compounds.
  • more free hydroxyl groups

Examples

  • These modifications include changes to the phosphate backbone chemistry, the sugar moieties, and, in RNA, the 2' hydroxyl group.

    Academic text (2016)
  • If you made nucleotides that don't have that hydroxyl group, they can't be extended.

  • The phosphate group on the five prime end, you have a hydroxyl group on the three prime end.

  • Sorbitol is a "sugar alcohol"; it is made by the reduction of glucose, converting the aldehyde group of glucose to a hydroxyl group.

    Blog text (5)
  • However, they all have at least one hydroxyl group, responsible for water solubility, and one amino group responsible for the absorption of acid gases.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Within the nucleus, the reactive hydroxyl groups are utilized in nucleophilic attack upon the host cell genome, a process known as strand transfer 17.

    Blog text (19)
  • The more free hydroxyl groups a flavonoid has, the higher antiplatelet and antiradical activities it exhibits among the same type of flavonoids with the same core structure.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Quantitative analysis of bisphenols using LC-MS/MS is most often performed using the M-H ion in the negative ion mode because of the phenolic hydroxyl group.

    Academic text (2018)
  • The hydrogen on the C2 hydroxyl group is removed by the water molecule coordinated with the M2 metal site (Fig. 4B).

    Academic text (2015)
  • During this step, IN cleaves a dinucleotide from each viral DNA terminus at a conserved CA sequence, yielding two reactive 3' hydroxyl groups.

    Blog text (19)

Synonyms

hydroxyl
vshydroxyl group
  • Specialized
1 7.9

A group of one oxygen and one hydrogen atom in a molecule

is the specific name for that one oxygen and one hydrogen arrangement
alcohol radical
vshydroxyl group
  • Specialized
7.2

A group of atoms written as –OH that makes a molecule an alcohol

is used to stress its presence also in acids and bases
alcohol group
vshydroxyl group
  • Specialized
4.9

A part of a molecule with an oxygen and hydrogen joined to a carbon atom

is broader and appears also when the group is not carbon bonded

Surface Forms

Morphology

hydroxyl + group

The phrase is fully compositional: 'hydroxyl' denotes an -OH moiety and 'group' denotes a bonded assembly, so 'hydroxyl group' straightforwardly means a bonded assembly containing an -OH. This follows regular scientific naming patterns (and has direct parallels in many languages), so a learner who knows both constituents can derive the meaning.

Etymology

Hydroxyl group names a tiny part made of one oxygen and one hydrogen, written as -OH. Because this little pair is like part of water, it helps a molecule 'mix with water', so the name helps you remember what it does.