In organic nomenclature, replacing a hydrogen with a hydroxyl group converts a hydrocarbon into what type of derivative?

• A. Halogenated hydrocarbon
• B. Alcohol
• C. Aldehyde
• D. Ether

Answer: (B)

Introducing an -OH group onto a hydrocarbon adds a hydroxyl functional group, which defines the compound as an alcohol. The presence of this -OH group is what distinguishes alcohols from other hydrocarbon derivatives; it also alters properties through polarity and hydrogen bonding, and in naming you’d often see the suffix -ol (for example, methane becomes methanol, ethane becomes ethanol).

Why the other options don’t fit: a halogenated hydrocarbon would have a halogen substituent instead of an -OH group; an aldehyde would require a carbonyl group (C=O) at the end of the chain; an ether features an oxygen linking two carbon groups (R-O-R'), not a hydroxyl attached to a carbon backbone.