Nomenclature, Structural Isomerism & Alkanes Flashcards
what is organic chemistry?
the study of compounds containing carbon and hydrogen and often many other elements e.g oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine
why can carbon form more compounds that every other element of the periodic table combined?
as it can covalently bond to itself to form chains and rings ( catenation)
it bonds with many other elements O,N,CL etc
what is a homologous series?
families of compounds with:
- same general formula
- molecular formulae of successive numbers differ by CH2.
- they also have same functional group
- similar chemical rectivity
what is a functional group?
atom or group of atom that gives characteristic chemical reactivity to a compound
how does the molecule change when increasing size?
the formula increases by 1 carbon and 2 hydrogens with each step
alkanes are the…
simplest one of the homologous series
what is the alkanes general formula?
CnH2n+2
so if there were 10 carbon atoms it would be c10h22
what type of hydrocarbons are alkanes?
saturated hydrocarbons
what does saturated hydrocarbons mean?
compounds that contain the elements hydrogen and carbon where the carbon is a single bond
what do alkanes only contain?
hydrogen and carbons
what is a substituent?
an atom or group of atom that branches out from the longest continuos carbon chain
what is the substituent for alkanes?
hydrocarbon chains (CH)
why are alkanes not very reactive?
- contain non-polar bonds
- no region of high electron density (small amounts if alkanes do undergo combustion)
what is structural isomerism?
compounds with the same molecular formula (long version) but they have the different structural formula
what is homolytic radical substitution?
Reactions where bond-breaking involves each atom in the bond getting one of the
bonding electrons to form species with an unpaired electron where one atom (or
group of atoms) is swapped for another.
