Organic Chemistry Flashcards

1
Q

What is a hydrocarbon?

A

Any compound made up of only carbon and hydrogen atoms.

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2
Q

What is an alkane?

A

The simplest type of hydrocarbon. They are saturated compounds that make up a homologous series.

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3
Q

What is the general formula for alkanes?

A

CnH2n+2

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4
Q

What is a homologous series?

A

A group of organic compounds that react in a similar way.

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5
Q

What are the first four alkanes?

A

Methane, Ethane, Propane, Butane

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6
Q

How does the length of a carbon chain affect its properties.

A

Shorter carbon chains mean:
- a runnier, less viscous (gloopy) hydrocarbon
- more volatile (lower boiling points)
- more flammable

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7
Q

What is an example of how the properties of hydrocarbons affect how they’re used.

A

Short chain hydrocarbons with lower boiling points are used as bottled gases (stored under pressure as liquids in bottles)

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8
Q

What is complete combustion?

A

When there is plenty of oxygen present meaning both the carbon and the hydrocarbon are oxidised.

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9
Q

What is the formula for complete combustion?

A

Hydrocarbon + Oxygen —> Carbon Dioxide + Water

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10
Q

what are hydrocarbons used for and why?

A

They’re used as fuels because they release so much fuel when they combust

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11
Q

What is crude oil?

A

A fossil fuel which is a mixture of lots of different hydrocarbons.

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12
Q

How is crude oil formed?

A

It’s formed from the remains of plants and animals that were turned to crude oil after being subject to high temperature and pressure underground for millions of years.

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13
Q

Why are fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas called non-renewable fuels?

A

Because they take so long to make that we’re using them faster than they’re being formed

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14
Q

The different compounds in crude oil are separated through fractional distillation. How does it work?

A
  • oil is heated until most of it evaporates
  • gas enters a fractionating column with a temperature gradient which gets cooler as you go up
  • longer hydrocarbons have high boiling points so they condense back to liquids and drain out lower down
  • oil ends up in different fractions, each containing similar length carbons with similar boiling points.
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15
Q

What are the uses of crude oil in modern life?

A
  • fuel for most transport
  • feedstock for new compounds in things like detergents and solvents
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16
Q

Why do we crack hydrocarbons?

A

Long-chain hydrocarbons aren’t very useful so we turn them into smaller, more useful ones by cracking them.

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17
Q

How does cracking work?

A
  • heat up long-chain hydrocarbons to vapourise them
  • vapour is passed over a hot powered aluminium oxide catalyst
  • molecules split apart on the catalyst’s surface
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18
Q

What are alkenes?

A

Hydrocarbons with a double bond between two of the carbon atoms, meaning they have two less hydrogens than the alkane.

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19
Q

What are the first four alkenes?

A

Ethene, Propene, Butene and Pentene

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20
Q

what is the general formula for alkenes?

A

CnH2n

21
Q

Why don’t alkenes undergo complete combustion when they burn?

A

Because there isn’t enough oxygen for them to combust completely. This results in a smoky yellow flame and less energy

22
Q

What is the formula of the incomplete combustion of alkenes?

A

Alkene + Oxygen —> Carbon + Carbon Monoxide + Carbon dioxide +water

23
Q

What is a functional group?

A

A group of atoms in a molecule that determine how that molecule typically reacts.

24
Q

How do alkenes react via addition reactions?

A

The carbon-carbon double bond opens up to leave a single bond and a new atom is added to each carbon

25
Q

What is hydrogenation?

A

When hydrogen is bonded with an alkene via an addition reaction

26
Q

What happens when alkenes react with steam? What is an example of this?

A

Water is added across the double bond and an alcohol is formed. E.g. ethanol is made by mixing ethene with steam and then passing it over a catalyst.

27
Q

What is the process of making ethanol from ethene?

A

Ethern reacted with steam —> mixture passed into a condenser —> ethanol and water condense because they have higher boiling points —> unreacted either recycled back into the reactor —> alcohol purified using fractional distillation.

28
Q

What happens when halogens react with alkenes in addition reaction?

A

Saturated molecules are formed with the double bonded carbons each becoming bonded to a halogen atom.

29
Q

How is bromine used to test for alkenes?

A
  • when orange bromine water is added to a saturated compound like an alkane there is no reaction and it stays bright orange
  • when it’s added to an alkene it will add across the double bond, making a colourless dibromo-compound
30
Q

What are polymers? How are they formed?

A

long molecules formed when lots of small molecules, often alkenes, called monomers join during in polymerisation. Plastics are made of polymers.

31
Q

What is is addition polymerisation?

A

When unsaturated monomer molecules can open up their double bonds and join together to form polymer chains.

32
Q

How do you draw the displayed formula of an additions polymer from the displayed formula of its monomer?

A
  • draw the two alkene carbons
    replace the double bond with a single
  • fill in the rest of the groups in the same way they were around the monomer
  • stick brackets around the repeating part and put an ‘n’ after it.
33
Q

What is the formula of an alcohol?

A

CnH2n+1OH

34
Q

What is the functional group of alcohols?

A

All their formulas end in ‘-OH’. All their names end in ‘-ol’

35
Q

What are the first 4 alcohols in the homogolous series?

A

Methanol, Ethanol, Propanol and Butanol

36
Q

What are the properties of the first four alcohols?

A
  • Flammable - undergo complete combustion in air to produce carbon dioxide and water
  • Soluble in water (neutral pH)
  • react with sodium
  • can be oxidised
37
Q

What are alcohols used for and why?

A
  • methanol and ethanol are used as solvents because they can dissolve most of the things that water can dissolve, as well as things it can’t.
  • used as fuel e.g. in spirit burners
38
Q

What is the process of the fermentation of ethanol? What are the conditions for this?

A

Yeast is used to convert sugars into ethanol. This happens fastest at 37 degrees in a slightly acidic solution anaerobic conditions.

39
Q

What is the word equation for fermentation?

A

Sugar (yeast) —> ethanol + carbon dioxide

40
Q

What is the functional group of carboxylic acids?

A

All of their formulas end in ‘-COOH’. All of their names end in ‘-anoic acid’

41
Q

What are the first four carboxylic acids?

A

Methanoic acid, Ethanoic Acid, Propanoic acid, Butanoic Acid

42
Q

What are the properties of carboxylic acids?

A
  • react with carbonates to produce salt, water and carbon dioxide (the salts form end in ‘anoate’)
  • water soluble
  • ionise when they dissolve, releasing H+ ions
  • form weak acidic solutions because not all of the molecules release their H+ ions
  • high pH
43
Q

What is the functional group of esters and how are they formed?

A
  • They have the functional group ‘-COO-‘.
  • formed from an alcohol and a carboxylic acid
44
Q

What is the word equation for formation of an ester?

A

alcohol + carboxylic acid —> ester + water

45
Q

What is the process of condensation polymerisation?

A
  • they contain two different types of monomer, each with two of the same functional group.
  • monomers react together with bonds forming between them, making polymer chains
  • for each new bond a small molecule like water is lost
46
Q

What is the word equation for a condensation polymerisation reaction?

A

A diol + A dicarboxylic acid —> condensation polymer + water

47
Q

What two different functional groups does an amino acid contain?

A

a basic amino group and a carboxyl group

48
Q

What kind of polymers do amino acids form via condensation polymerisation?

A

Polypeptides. Long chains of one or more polypeptides are known as proteins.

49
Q

What are sugars and what do they form when they react together through polymerisation reactions?

A
  • Small molecules that contain carbon, oxygen and hydrogen
  • they form larger carbohydrate polymers like starch and cellulose