Heteroatom
Chloromethane (left) contains the heteroatom chlorine. The Grignard compound methyl magnesium chloride contains the heteroatoms magnesium and chlorine. The polarity is indicated by the letter δ.
Heteroatoms (from the Greek heteros , “the other (of two)”) are atoms in organic - chemical compounds that are not carbon or hydrogen . Often, but not exclusively, nitrogen , oxygen , sulfur or phosphorus atoms are part of an organic compound (such as cyclic compounds - heterocycles ). Because of the electronegativity difference between heteroatoms and carbon or hydrogen, the bonds between these atoms are mostly polar .
Examples of heteroatoms in organic compounds
- Oxygen in alcohols , amino acids , aldehydes , acetals , ketones , carboxylic acids , esters , ethers , amides , peptides , urethanes , furan , dioxane
- Nitrogen in alkaloids , amines , amides , amino acids , imines , isocyanides , nitriles , nitro compounds , urethanes , pyridine , pyrrolidine
- Sulfur in thiols , cysteine , disulfides , sulfides , sulfoxides , sulfones , sulfonic acids , sulfonamides , thiophene
- Phosphorus in phosphanes , phosphoric acid esters
- Selenium in selenols , selenides , diselenides , selenophene
- Tellurium in tellurides
- Fluorine in Teflon
- Chlorine in chloroform , carboxylic acid chlorides
- Bromine in bromobenzene
- Iodine in iodoalkanes
- Magnesium in Grignard compounds
- Lithium in organolithium compounds , e.g. B. n - butyllithium
Individual evidence
- ^ Hans P. Latscha, Uli Kazmaier, Helmut A. Klein: Organic chemistry . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-642-36592-8 , pp. 197-209 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-540-77107-4_15 .