organic chemistry Flashcards
when do molecular orbitals form?
when atomic orbitals combine
2 types of molecular orbital (paired)
bonding and antibonding
max number of electrons in a molecular orbital
two
which electrons are placed in the bonding/antibonding orbital?
bonding - electrons that spend most of their time between the two nuclei
antibonding - electrons that spend most of their time outside the nuclei
what is a sigma bond?
one where two molecular orbitals overlap end-on
what is a pi bond?
one where two molecular orbitals overlap side-on
bonding in alkanes
sp3 hybridised, sigma bonds
bonding in alkenes
sp2 hybridised, sigma and pi bonds
bonding in alkynes
sp hybridised, sigma and pi bonds
why are organic compounds coloured?
If the electrons in the HOMO are given exactly the right amount of energy they can jump to the LUMO. The energy of light needed for this transition is absorbed and the complimentary colour is observed.
- don’t talk about d orbitals for organic compounds.
what is conjuagtion?
sections of alternating single and double bonds, which make it more likely a compound will be coloured.
relationship between conjugation and energy gap
the more atoms in a conjugated system, the smaller the gap between the HOMO and the LUMO
what is the name of the part of a molecule responsible for its colour?
the chromophore (conjugated part)
two kinds of stereoisomerism?
optical and geometric
what is stereoisomerism?
atoms have the same chemical formula and are bonded together in the same way, but the arrangement of atoms in the space is different (non-superimposable)
geometric isomers
- found where atoms do not have free rotation around a bond
- cyclic or unsaturated molecules
trans vs cis isomers
- trans isomers have higher mp/bp than cis ones as thry can pack together more tightly and therefore have stronger intermolecular bonds
- cis isomers will undergo dehydration regularly, trans ones wont as their functional groups are further apart
optical isomers
- found when looking at non-superimposable mirror images of molecules
- will occur when a central carbon atom is chiral (has four different groups attached)
isomers of chiral molecules
known as optical isomers or enantiomers
how are enantiomers different from each other?
they rotate polarised light in opposite directions
what is a racemic mixture?
when two entaniomers are present in equal amounts
why is chirality important in biological systems?
proteins are made from only one amino acid enantiomer
two types of fission
homolytic and heterolytic