6.1.2 - Carbonyls And Carboxylic Acids Flashcards
What is a carbonyl functional group?
Which groups contain a carbonyl group?
- C=O group
- Aldehydes and ketones contain it
What is an aldehyde functional group?
Uses of the simplest aldehyde
- CHO
- Methanal, HCHO, is used to preserve biological specimens
Ketone functional group
Uses of simplest ketone
- CO
- propanone/acetone, CH3COCH, used as an industrial solvent or in nail-varnish removers
Suffix for carbonyl compounds
Aldehyde: -al
Ketone: -one
Which is the first carbon in a carbonyl compound?
The carbon atom of the carbonyl group is always designated as carbon-1
Common uses and applications of octanal
- CH3(CH2)7CHO
- Naturally occurring in citrus oils
- responsible for the smell of oranges
- used as a component of perfumes
- flavour production in food industry
- released in some mating scents for birds (in Alaska) as part of breeding ritual
Oxidation of aldehydes
Oxidised to carboxylic acids Reagents used: - Cr2072-/H+ usually acidified potassium dichromate - dilute H2SO4 Conditions: -Heat under reflux
Do ketones undergo oxidation reactions?
Ketones do not undergo oxidation reactions
Structure of C=O carbonyl group
- the C=O bond is made up of both sigma and pi bonds
- pi bond above and below the plane of the carbon and oxygen atoms, formed by the sideways overlap of p-orbitals
- sigma bond in-between the carbon and oxygen atoms
Difference between carbonyl and alkene group
- C=O is polar, where C=C is not
- this is because oxygen is more electronegative than carbon
- so the electron density lies closer to the oxygen atom than the carbon
- this makes the carbon end of the C=O delta positive, with the Oxygen end being delta negative
What does the polar nature of carbonyl groups allow to happen?
- Aldehydes and ketones can react with some nucleophiles
- A nucleophile is attracted to and attacks the slightly positive carbon atom, resulting in addition across the C=O double bond
- Aldehydes and ketones can therefore undergo nucleophilic addition
(this is different to electrophilic addition in alkene C=C double bonds)
What is sodium tetrahydriborate(III), NaBH4, used for?
- Used as a reducing agent in reactions with aldehydes and ketones to reduce them to alcohols
- The aldehyde is usually warmed with the NaBH4 reducing agent in aq solution
Reducing an aldehyde mechanisms and info.
- Aldehydes are reduced to primary alcohols by NaBH4
Reagents:
- Heated with NaBH4(aq)
E.g. butanal reduced to butan-1-ol
Reducing a ketone mechanism and info.
- Ketones are reduced to secondary alcohols by NaBH4
Reagents:
- heated with NaBH4(aq)
Hydrogen Cyanide, HCN, info.
- Colourless
- Extremely poisonous
- liquid at r.t.
- boils slightly above room temperature
- cannot be used safely in an open laboratory
- in a reaction, sodium cyanide and sulfuric acid are used to provide the hydrogen cyanide
Reaction of HCN with carbonyl compounds
Why is it useful?
- HCN adds across the C=O bond of aldehydes and ketones
- The reaction will form a hydroxynitrile compound
- It is a useful reaction as it provides a means of increasing the length of the carbon chain
What groups does a hydroxynitrile compound consist of?
- hydroxyl group, OH
- Nitrile group, C(triple bond)N
- these can also be called cyanohydrins
Nucleophilic addition of carbonyl compounds
- The carbon atom in the C=O double bond is electron deficient and attracts nucleophiles
- Aldehydes and ketones both react by nucleophilic addition to form alcohols
Mechanism for nucleophilic addition to carbonyl compounds, using NaBH4
- In this reaction NaBH4 contains a hydride ion, ..(lone pair)H-, which acts as a nucleophile:
1. Look in textbook
Mechanism for reaction of carbonyl compounds with NaCN/H+
- In NaCN/H+, A ..(lone pair)CN- acts as the nucleophile in this reaction, which attacks the electron-deficient-carbon atom in the aldehyde of ketone
1. Look in textbook
Aldehyde def
At least one H attached to the carbonyl group
Ketone def
Two carbons attached to the carbonyl
C=O group is in the middle of at least two carbons
Nucleophile def
An atom or group of atoms that is attracted to an electron deficient centre.
They are often negative ions (anions) with a lone pair
They often contain an electronegative atom with a lone pair of electrons and a delta negative charge
Mechanism of nucleophilic addition with carbonyl compounds
- Dipole present on carbonyl - hence it is susceptible to nucleophilic attack
- Nucleophile donates the pair of electrons to the carbon which is electron deficient
- Simultaneously the pi electrons in C=O bond break forming the intermediate
- Extra electron pairs are donated to neighbouring H+ ion to form the alcohol which is stable