Alkyl group

In organic chemistry, an alkyl group is an alkane missing one hydrogen. The term alkyl is intentionally unspecific to include many possible substitutions. An acyclic alkyl has the general formula of −C_nH_2n+1. A cycloalkyl group is derived from a cycloalkane by removal of a hydrogen atom from a ring and has the general formula −C_nH_2n−1. Typically an alkyl is a part of a larger molecule. In structural formulae, the symbol R is used to designate a generic (unspecified) alkyl group. The smallest alkyl group is methyl, with the formula −CH₃.

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