Aryl

In the context of organic molecules, aryl refers to any functional group or substituent derived from a simple aromatic ring, may it be phenyl, thiophene, indolyl, etc (see IUPAC nomenclature) ^[1]. "Aryl" is used for the sake of abbreviation or generalization.

A simple aryl group is phenyl, C₆H₅; it is derived from benzene. The tolyl group, CH₃C₆H₄, is derived from toluene (methylbenzene). The xylyl group, (CH₃)₂C₆H₃, is derived from xylene (dimethylbenzene).

A few different types of benzene derived aryl groups. From left to right: phenyl, benzyl, tolyl, o-xylyl.

Biaryls may display axial chirality. Arylation is simply any chemical process in which an aryl group is attached to a substrate.

See also

• Alkyl
• Aryl hydrocarbon receptor, a bodily target for dioxins^[2]
• Arene compound

References