Presence of one or more numbers of a particular functional group
Submitted by apurvatr on 31 March 2014 - 10:49am
Forums:
Say, If there are three -OH groups in 1 compound and eight -OH groups in another compound, would there be a difference in the adsorotion intensity? And if so can that be taken as a differentiating factor between those compounds?
gabiruth
04 Apr 2014
Hi guys,
This is interesting question - well, in a theoretical case, there could be no difference between 3 OH and 8 OH - but this isn't a theoretical world - to have in a given molecule 8 OH instead of 3 OH - there must be other changes in the structure - and also - there will most likely be different interactions between the OH and their neighboring atoms, and there will be new interactions between the OH and themselves.
And - since the overall absorbance at a specific wavelength range that is typical of the O-H stretch, the intensity of absorption at this range will increase, and other absorption will probably decrease.
So without getting into too many details - there should and probably be a difference and it could be quite significance.
To the final question - if there is a difference - it can be used as a differentiating mean between them.
Gabi Levin
Brimrose
Permalink