Alcohols are compounds that have hydroxyl groups bonded to saturated, sp3- hybridized carbon atoms. This definition 3 purposely excludes phenols (hydroxyl groups bonded to an aromatic ring) and enols (hydroxyl groups bonded to a vinylic carbon), because the chemistry of the three types of compounds is sometimes 3 different. Alcohols can be thought of as organic derivatives of water in which one of the water hydrogens is replaced by an organic group: H-0-H versus R-O-H.Organic Chemistry Organic Chemistry Xiamen Xiamen University University „ Alcohols are compounds that have hydroxyl groups bonded to saturated, sp 3 - hybridized carbon atoms. This definition purposely excludes phenols (hydroxyl groups bonded to an aromatic ring) and enols (hydroxyl groups bonded to a vinylic carbon), because the chemistry of the three types of compounds is sometimes different. Alcohols can be thought of as organic derivatives of water in which one of the water hydrogens is replaced by an organic group: H O H versus R O H