11 Organic chemistry Flashcards
What is a hydrocarbon?
A hydrocarbon is a compound containing carbon and hydrogen only.
What is a saturated hydrocarbon?
A saturated hydrocarbon has single bonds only.
What is an unsaturated hydrocarbon?
An unsaturated hydrocarbon contains carbon-to-carbon multiple bonds.
What is a homologous series?
A homologous series is a family of compounds with similar chemical properties whose successive members differ by the addition of a -CH2- group.
What is the simplest homologous series?
Alkanes. Alkanes contain single carbon-to-carbon bonds. E.g methane, ethane, propane
What is a functional group?
A functional group is the part of the organic molecule that is largely responsible for the molecule’s chemical properties.
How can hydrocarbons be classified?
Aliphatic, Alicyclic, Aromatic
What is an aliphatic hydrocarbon?
Carbon atoms are joined together in unbranched (straight) or branched chains, or non-aromatic rings.
What is an alicyclic hydrocarbon?
Carbon atoms are joined to each other in ring (cyclic) structures with or without branches.
What is an aromatic hydrocarbon?
Some or all of the carbon atoms are found in an benzene ring.
What are the three homologous series of aliphatic hydrocarbons?
Alkanes- containing single carbon-to-carbon bonds
Alkenes- containing at least one double carbon-to-carbon bond
Alkynes- containing at least one triple carbon-to-carbon bond.
What are structural isomers?
Compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulae.
What is a covalent bond?
A shared pair of electrons between two atoms.
What can a covalent bond be broken by?
Homolytic fission or heterolytic fission.
What is homolytic fission?
The breaking of a covalent bond with one of the bonded electrons going to each atom, forming two radicals.
What is heterolytic fission?
The breaking of a covalent bond forming a cation (positive ion) and an anion (negative ion).
What occurs in homolytic fission?
When a covalent bond breaks by homolytic fission, each of the bonded atom takes one of the shared pair of electrons from the bond.
- Each atom now has a single unpaired electron.
- An atom or groups of atoms with an unpaired electron is called a radical.
What is a radical?
An atom or group of atoms with an unpaired electron.
What occurs in heterolytic fission?
When a covalent bond breaks by heterolytic fission, one of the bonded atoms takes both of the electrons from the bond.
- The atom that takes both electrons becomes a negative ion.
- The atom that does not take the electrons becomes a positive ion.
What are the 3 types of reaction?
Addition, substitution and elimination
What is an addition reaction?
In an addition reaction, two reactants join together to form one product.
What is a substitution reaction?
In a substitution reaction, an atom or group of atoms is replaced by a different atom or group of atoms.
What is an elimination reaction?
An elimination reaction involves the removal of a small molecule from a larger one.
In an elimination reaction, one reactant molecule forms two products.
