Aromatic Compounds Flashcards
Describe benzene
C6H6
- A colourless, sweet smelling, highly flammable liquid
- Found naturally in crude oil, is a component of petrol, and also found in cigarette smoke
- Classified as a carcinogen (it can cause cancer)
What does a benzene molecule consist of?
- A hexagonal ring of six carbons atoms with each carton atom joined to two other carbon atoms and to one hydrogen atom
- Benzene is classed as an aromatic hydrocarbon or arena
What are the derivatives of benzene?
- Historically, aromatic was the term used to classify the derivatives of benzene, as many pleasant-smelling compounds contained a benzene ring
- Many odourless compounds have been found to contain a benzene ring, yet the term aromatic is still used to classify these compounds
- Many aromatic compounds can be synthesised from benzene
What is the Kekule model?
-1865 suggested that the structure of benzene was based on a six membered ring of carbon toms joined by alternate single and double bonds
Why was it hard to determine the structure of benzene?
- Molecular formula and experimental evidence
- Its molecular formula, C6H6 suggested a structure containing many double bonds or a structure containing double and triple bonds
- Compounds containing multiple bonds were known to be very reactive, however benzene appeared unreactive
What was the evidence to disprove the Kekule model?
- The structure is not able to explain all of its chemical and physical properties
1. Lack of reactivity of benzene
2. The lengths of the carbon-carbon bonds in benzene
3. Hydrogenation enthalpies
How can the Kekule model be disproved by the lack of reactivity of benzene?
- If benzene contained the C=C bonds, it should decolourise bromine in an electrophilic addition reaction but:
1. Benzene does not undergo electrophilic addition reactions
2. Benzene does not decolourise bromine under normal conditions - This has led scientists to suggest that benzene cannot have any C=C bonds in its structure
How can the Kekule model be disproved by the lengths of the carbon-carbon bonds in benzene?
- Using X-ray diffraction, it is possible to measure bond length in a molecule
- In 1929, found that all the bonds in benzene were 0.139nm in length
- The bond length was between the length of a single bond, 0.153nm and a double bond 0.134nm
How can the Kekule model be disproved by hydrogenation enthalpies?
- The Kekule structure, containing alternate single and double bonds could be given the name cyclohexane-1,3,5,-triene to indicate the positioning of the double bonds
- If benzene did have the Kekule structure, then it would be expected to have an enthalpy change of hydrogenation that is three times that of cyclohexane
- When cyclohexene is hydrogenated one double bond reacts with hydrogen
- The enthalpy change of hydrogenation is -120kJmol - As the Kekule structure is predicted to contain three double bonds the expected enthalpy change for reacting three double bonds with hydrogen would be 3 x -120 = -360KJmol
- The actual enthalpy change of hydrogenation pf bene is only -208Kjmol
- This means that 152Kjmol less energy is produced than expected
- The actual structure of benzene is therefore more stable than the theoretical kekule model of benzene
- This info led scientist to propose the delocalised model of benzene
What are the main features of the delocalised model?
- Benzene is a planar, cyclic, hexagonal hydrocarbon contain six carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms
- Each carbon tom uses three of its available four electrons in bonding to two other carbon atoms and to one hydrogen atom
- Each carbon atom has one electron in a p-orbital at right angles to the plane of the bonded carbon and hydrogen atoms
- Adjacent p-orbital electrons overlap sideways, in both direction, above and below the plane of the carbon atoms to form a ring of electron density
- This overlapping of the p-orbitals creates a system, of pi bonds which spread over all six of the carbon atoms in the ring structure
- The six electrons occupying this system of pi bonds are said to be delocalised
How do you name aromatic compounds?
- Some groups are shown as prefixes to benzene
- These include short alkyl chain, halogen and nitro groups
How do you name compounds with one substituent group?
- Aromatic compound sixth one substituent group are monosubstituted
- In aromatic compounds, the benzene ring is often considered to be the parent chain
- Alkyl groups (CH3, C2H5), halogens (F,CL, Br, I) and nitro (NO2) groups are all considered the prefixes to benzene
What happens when a benzene ring is attached to an alkyl chain with a functional group or seven or more carbon atoms?
- Benzene is considered to be a substituent
2. Instead of benzene, the prefix phenyl is used in the name
What are some exceptions to benzene names?
- Benzoic acid (benzenecarboxylic acid)
- Phenylamine
- Benzaldehyde (benzenecarbaldehyde)
How do you name compounds with more than one substituent group?
- Some molecules may contain more than one substituent on the benzene ring, for example, disubstituted compounds have two substituents groups
- The ring is now numbered, just like a carbon chain, starting with one of the substituent groups
- The substituent groups are listed in alphabetical order using the smallest number possible
Describe the reactivity of benzene and its substituents
- Benzene and its derivatives undergo substitution reactions in which a hydrogen atom on the benzene ring is replaced by another atom or group of atoms
- Benzene typically reacts with electrophiles and most of the reactions of benzene produced by electrophilic substitution
Describe the nitration of benzene conditions
- Benzene reacts slowly with nitric acid to form nitrobenzene
- The reaction is catalysed by sulphuric acid and heated to 50 degrees to obtain a good rate of reaction
- A water bath is used to maintain the steady temperature
What happens in the nitration of benzene?
- In nitration, one of the hydrogen atoms on the benzene ring is replaced by a nitro, -NO2 group
- If the temperature of the reaction rises above 50 degrees, further substitution reactions may occur leading to the production of dinitrobenzene
Why is nitrobenzene important?
- Nitrobenzene is an important starting material in the preparation of dyes, pharmaceuticals and pesticides
- It can be sued as a staring material in the preparation of paracetamol
What is the mechanisms for nitration of benzene?
electrophilic substitution
What is the halogenation fo benzene?
- The halogens do not react with benzene unless a catalyst called a halogen carrier is present
- Common halogen carrier include AlCl3, FeCL3, AlBr3, FeBr3, which an be generated in site (in the reaction vessel) from the metal and hydrogen
What are phenols?
- Phenols are a type of organic chemical containing a hydroxyl, -OH functional group directly bonded to an aromatic ring
- The simplest member of the phenols, C6H5OH, has the same name as the group, phenol
- Any compounds that contains an -OH group attached directly to the benzene ring will react in a similar way