Organic Chemistry Flashcards
What is a hydrocarbon?
A compound containing carbon and hydrogen only.
Examples include methane, but-2-ene, and propyne.
What distinguishes saturated hydrocarbons from unsaturated hydrocarbons?
Saturated hydrocarbons have single bonds only, while unsaturated hydrocarbons contain carbon-to-carbon multiple bonds.
Methane is an example of a saturated hydrocarbon; but-2-ene and propyne are unsaturated.
Define a homologous series.
A family of compounds with similar chemical properties whose successive members differ by the addition of a -CH2- group.
The simplest homologous series is the alkanes.
What are the first three members of the alkane homologous series?
Methane, ethane, propane.
Their chemical formulas are CH4, C2H6, and C3H8 respectively.
What is a functional group?
The part of the organic molecule that is largely responsible for the molecule’s chemical properties.
Examples include alcohol and amine groups.
Fill in the blank: A saturated hydrocarbon has _______ only.
single bonds
True or False: An unsaturated hydrocarbon can contain single bonds.
True
What elements can carbon bond to in addition to hydrogen?
Oxygen, nitrogen, and halogens.
This bonding results in the formation of molecules with different functional groups.
Which functional group is represented by -OH?
Alcohol functional group
Which functional group is represented by -NH2?
Amine functional group
