Editing Hydroxy group (section)

{{short description|Chemical group (–OH)}}
{{about|the hydroxy functional group|the Hydroxyl radical|Hydroxyl radical}}

[[File:Hydroxyl3D.png|thumb|right|200px|Representation of an [[organic compound]] hydroxy group, where R represents a [[hydrocarbon]] or other organic moiety, the red and grey spheres represent oxygen and hydrogen atoms respectively, and the rod-like connections between these, [[covalent]] [[chemical bond]]s.]]

In [[chemistry]], a '''hydroxy''' or '''hydroxyl group''' is a [[functional group]] with the [[chemical formula]] {{chem2|\sOH}} and composed of one [[oxygen]] atom [[Chemical bond|covalently bonded]] to one [[hydrogen]] atom. In [[organic chemistry]], [[alcohols]] and [[carboxylic acid]]s contain one or more hydroxy groups. Both the negatively charged [[anion]] {{chem2|HO-}}, called [[hydroxide]], and the neutral [[Radical (chemistry)|radical]] {{chem2|HO*}}, known as the [[hydroxyl radical]], consist of an unbonded hydroxy group.

According to [[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry|IUPAC]] definitions, the term ''hydroxyl'' refers to the hydroxyl radical ({{chem2|*OH}}) only, while the functional group {{chem2|\sOH}} is called a ''hydroxy group''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Alcohols|url=http://goldbook.iupac.org/A00204.html|publisher=IUPAC |website=Gold Book |date=February 24, 2014 |doi= 10.1351/goldbook.A00204 |access-date=23 March 2015|doi-access=free }}</ref>