Organic Functional Group Playing Card Deck

Abstract

The recognition and identification of organic functional groups, while essential for chemistry and biology majors, is also very useful for non-science majors in the study of molecules in art and life. In order to make this task more palatable for the non-science major (art and communications students), the images of a traditional playing deck of cards (heart, spade, diamond, and club) have been replaced with four representations of common organic functional groups. The hierarchy rules for naming two groups in a molecule is loosely incorporated to represent the sequence (King, Queen, Jack, …, Ace) of the deck. Students practice recognizing and identifying organic groups by playing simple card games of Old Maid and Go Fish. To play games like Poker or Gin, a student must not only recognize the functional groups, but also master a naming hierarchy for the organic groups.