Question

How are functional groups related to reaction types?

Answer 1

Functional groups inherently define the types of reactions that can take place.

Explanation:

Experimentally, chemistry came up the other way and used observations of reactions to eventually figure out what atomic/molecular configurations caused or allowed them to occur. We call them “function groups” because they are the 'groupings' of atomic structure that create the 'functionality' of a particular reaction.

Thus, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, acids, and all the other named functional groups tell us the likely reactions those molecules can have. This is a key part of organic chemistry synthesis and the understanding of complex biochemical systems.