How to Memorize Functional Groups Using Memory Techniques

If you’re trying to learn functional groups and remember them for reliable recall, using a combination of the best memory techniques will help you quickly.

The techniques I recommend as a memory expert include:

• A Memory Palace
• Mnemonic associations
• A well-formed review process

Combined, these techniques will help you stop trying to remember words, letters, symbols and visual structures at the same time.

You’ll learn instead how to break the different information parts apart and absorb them thoroughly.

Ready to add memory techniques to your learning routine?

Let’s get started.

How to Memorize Functional Groups

When learning chemical classes, structural formulas and prefixes and suffixes, you’re not dealing with just one kind of information.

On top of being able to identify the groups as taught in this UBC chemistry tutorial, you need to memorize:

• Words
• Individual letters
• Numbers
• Symbols
• Formulas
• Visual illustrations
• Groupings of information that contain all of the above representations

It’s a lot, but we can break it down and before you know it, you’ll be able to rapidly remember even the most complicated clusters.

Step One: Memorize Chemistry Terms Using Mnemonics

Start with developing the ability to memorize words.

This is important because before memorizing information like “c double bond o,” memorizing words will give you a framework that includes the name of each chemical class.

One of the fastest ways to memorize words is through association. Using associations and a Memory Palace is the easiest way to accomplish this goal at scale.

Before we get into some examples, have a look at this list of hydrocarbyls from Wikipedia’s list of functional groups: 

I suggest creating a Memory Palace exclusively for memorizing these hydrocarbyls:

• Alkane
• Alkene
• Alkyne
• Benzene derivative

You can start by mentally placing the association on a wall in your Memory Palace for each of them.

For example, using the mnemonic linking inside the Memory Palace, having Weird Al swordfighting Michal McKean allows me to memorize alkane and alkene in one fell swoop.

The strategy I used is to simply look at how the words sound and attach them to famous people with an object and an action that makes everything memorable. The association is placed in a mental recreation of a room I’m familiar with. 

Give it a try. Create associations for each chemical class in the group and place it in a building for that group. Then, when you use your mind’s eye to go through the Memory Palace, just ask yourself: “What was happening there?”

If you need more help with the word memorization part of this strategy, here’s a full tutorial on how to memorize vocabulary.

Step Two: Learn to Memorize Letters

You will need to remember a lot of letters. 

For example, when you’re learning primary animes, you’ll come across this visual representation:

How do you remember the R, N, H and H?

For this purpose, the pegword method is going to come in very handy.

That’s because developing your own mnemonic pegwords lets you instantly think of a highly dynamic mnemonic association for each letter of the alphabet.

That way, instead of a hard to remember display of images, you can put something like this in a Memory Palace:

Here Rick Astley serves as the mnemonic association for the leeter R, Noel Gallagher for the N, Heathcliffe the cat for one H, and Henry Rollins for the other.

Of course, you might not be aware of all or any of these pop culture figures. But you almost certainly can come up with your own associations. If you build an Alphabet List for yourself using the pegword method, you’ll never be at a loss for associations.

The same approach works well if you need to memorize the periodic table of the elements.

If chemistry is your main focus, you can use the same Memory Palace and association approach to remember the diatomic elements as well.

Step Three: Use Number Mnemonics

In the primary amine above, we have the number one. To remember that, you can add a candle to the image. So that it’s linked to the R, create a story that helps you remember that your association was using a candle.

You can create a simple association for each number from 0-9, such as:

• 0 = donut
• 1 = candle
• 2 = swan
• 3 = mustache (on its side)
• 4 = sailboat
• 5 = seahorse
• 6 = fishing hook
• 7 = boomerang
• 8 = snowman
• 9 = golf club

Let’s review:

If R1 becomes Rick Astley with a candle, RC6H5 in the Benzine derivative chemical class could still involve Rick Astley. But now he would be using a fishing hook to remind you of the six.

And in your Memory Palace, he could be using that fishing hook to do something to Heathcliffe the cat while he’s riding a seahorse to represent H5.

For a more advanced number system, learn the Major System and a PAO System. Although theses number mnemonic strategies take a bit longer to learn, they will help you set up even more dynamic associations for the numbers you need to commit to memory.

Step Four: Use Mnemonics to Memorize Symbols

Chemists use lines and Lewis dots to help express the amount of chemical bonds that might be present.

Some people may find this the hardest of all because it involves figural memory.

However, let’s break it down. A lot of it is quite logical. 

For example, if no bond is present, you might see:

If two bonds are present, you’ll see two parallel lines between two connected atoms. Like this:

Triple bonds are a little different, but where there are three lines, you can pretty much be sure that’s the kind of bond you’re looking at.

To remember these details, you can mentally draw the lines in your Memory Palace. Or you can attach one of your number-images in a way that makes sense to you.

Step Five: Review

Once you’ve got things you need to memorize in a Memory Palace, like n double bond o and any associated numbers and symbols you need, the next step is easy.

Simply use the principles of spaced repetition. This means timing your reviews on a schedule, something you can make easier by following my guides to using Anki and flashcards.

Or you can use the Memory Palace without the guidance of software as part of your review process. To do that, mentally travel the journey by following what I call the Recall Rehearsal patterns in the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass:

• Forward
• Backward
• Middle to the end
• End to the middle
• Skipping the Memory Palace Stations

Beyond that, always review the material using the principles of active recall. This term means that you challenge yourself to essentially solve a puzzle.

For example, rather than including the answers on the reverse side of an index card, write out your response by hand. This challenges you to produce the material, better forming memories.

But when you give yourself easy access to the answer, you risk falling into rote learning because that easy access temps you away from taking on the “desirable difficulty” of trying to provide the answer yourself first.

Remembering Functional Groups Fast

Now, you might be looking at all the steps above and be wondering…

“How the heck is all of this supposed to happen quickly?”

I understand your doubt. But the way to start achieving better results is simple:

Getting started with techniques that improve your memory for studying is the key.

And the reality is that I’ve seen people pick up memory techniques in an afternoon and give a memory expert with two Guinness records a run for his money.

You can too. You just need to set two or three afternoons aside to learn the techniques. 

Here’s a free course that will give you all the foundations you need:

Once you have the core skills, everything will be much easier and even fun. That’s because creative repetition makes everything like a game.

And if you have any questions along the way, just shout out. I love to encourage learners who are serious about using memory techniques to reach their goals.

So what do you say?

Are you ready to master functional groups, whizz your exams and enjoy the career of your dreams?