Organic chemistry Flashcards

1
Q

What is a hydrocarbon?

A

Any compound that is formed from hydrogen and carbon atoms only

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are alkanes?

A

The simplest type of hydrocarbon you can get. They are a homologous series (react in a similar way) and are saturated compounds (each carbon atom forms four single covalent bonds)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What are the first four alkanes?

A

Methane, ethane, propane and butane

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is the general formula for alkanes?

A

C n H 2 n+2

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How do hydrocarbon properties change with the chain length?

A

Shorter chains are more runny (less viscous), more volatile (have lower boiling points) and are more flammable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Give the word equation of the complete combustion of a hydrocarbon

A

Hydrocarbon + oxygen –> carbon dioxide + water (+energy)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Why are hydrocarbons used as fuels?

A

They release a large amount of energy when combusted completely

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How can fractional distillation be used to separate hydrocarbon fractions?

A

Oil heated until turns to gas, gas goes into fractionating column, longer hydrocarbons have high boiling points, condense near bottom (hot at bottom), shorter hydrocarbons have lower boiling points, condense at top (cold at top)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is crude oil used for in modern life?

A

Fuel for transport and is used used in petrochemical industry to make new compounds in things like polymers, solvents, lubricants and detergents

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is cracking used for?

A

As short-chain hydrocarbons are more flammable, they make better fuels, so to achieve this, longer hydrocarbons are split up through cracking

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What are alkenes?

A

A type of hydrocarbon used as a starting material when making lots of other compounds and can be used to make polymers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What type of reaction is cracking?

A

Thermal decomposition - breaking down molecules by heating them

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How do you perform catalytic cracking?

A

Long-chain hydrocarbons are vaporised, vapour is passed over a hot powdered aluminium oxide catalyst, long-chain molecules split apart on the surface of the specks of catalyst

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How do you perform steam cracking?

A

Long-chain hydrocarbons are vaporised, mixed with steam and then heated to a high temperature

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is the structure of an alkene?

A

They have a double bond between two of the carbon atoms in their chain, meaning that they have two fewer hydrogens compared to the alkane with the same number of carbons. The C=C bond can open up to make a single bond, allowing them to bond with other atoms

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the first four alkenes?

A

Ethene, propene, butene and pentene

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Give the general formula for alkenes

A

CnH2n

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Why do alkenes burn with a smoky flame?

A

Alkenes only combust completely with large amounts of oxygen, which isn’t available, so they tend to undergo incomplete combustion, producing carbon and carbon monoxide

19
Q

Give the word equation for the incomplete combustion of alkenes

A

Alkene + oxygen –> carbon + carbon monoxide + carbon dioxide + water (+energy)

20
Q

What is a functional group?

A

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

21
Q

What is hydrogenation?

A

The addition of hydrogen; it can react with the double-bonded carbons to open up the double bond and form the equivalent, saturated, alkane

22
Q

What happens when steam reacts with alkenes?

A

Water is added across the double bond and an alcohol is formed

23
Q

How can ethanol be made industrially from ethene?

A

Steam is mixed with ethene, passed over a catalyst, reaction mixture is passed from reactor to condensor, ethanol and water have a higher bp than ethene so both condense whilst any unreacted ethene is recycled back. Ethanol can then be purified with fractional distillation

24
Q

What happens when halogens react with alkenes?

A

The molecules formed are saturated, with the C=C carbons each becoming bonded to a halogen atom

25
Q

How can the addition of bromine to a double bond be used to test for alkenes?

A

When orange bromine water is added to a saturated compound, no reaction will happen, but if it is added to an alkene, the bromine will add across the double bond, making a colourless dibromo-compound

26
Q

How are polymers formed?

A

Through polymerisation: where lots of small molecules called monomers join together. This usually needs high pressure and a catalyst

27
Q

What happens when addition polymers are made?

A

The monomers that make up addition polymers have a double covalent bond. This means that lots of unsaturated monomer molecules (alkenes) can open up their double bonds and join together to form polymer chains. This is called addition polymerisation.

28
Q

How do you draw the displayed formula of an addition formula from the displayed formula from it’s monomer?

A

Draw the two alkene compounds, replace the double bond with a single bond, add an extra single bond to each of the carbons, fill in the rest of the groups the same way that they surrounded the double bond in the monomer, put a pair of brackets around the repeating bit and put an ‘n’ after it

29
Q

What is the general formula of an alcohol?

A

CnH2n+1OH

30
Q

What are the first four alcohols in the homologous series?

A

Methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol

31
Q

What do all alcohols contain?

A

An -OH functional group

32
Q

What are the properties of the first four alcohols?

A

Soluble in water, solutions have neutral pH, react with sodium to make hydrogen and can be oxidised to make a carboxylic acid

33
Q

Why are alcohols used as solvents and fuels?

A

They can dissolve substances that water can’t and they burn fairly clearly without releasing odours

34
Q

Give the word equation of fermentation

A

Sugar –> ethanol + carbon dioxide

35
Q

What conditions does fermentation work best at and why?

A

37°C in a slightly acidic solution with anaerobic conditions because the enzyme in the yeast works best to convert the sugar to alcohol

36
Q

What are carboxylic acids?

A

A homologous series of compounds that all have -COOH as a functional group. Their names end in ‘anoic acid’

37
Q

Give the word equation of the reaction between a carboxylic acid and a carbonate

A

Carboxylic acid + carbonate -> salt (ending in ‘anoate’) + water + carbon dioxide
e.g. ethanoic acid + sodium carbonate –> sodium ethanoate + water + carbon dioxide

38
Q

What happens when carboxylic acids dissolve in water?

A

They ionise and release H+ ions, resulting in an acidic solution. However, they do not ionise completely so form weak acidic solutions

39
Q

What are esters?

A

They are formed from an alcohol and a carboxylic acid using an acid catalyst and have the functional group -COO

40
Q

Give the word equation for the reaction that produces an ester

A

Alcohol + carboxylic acid –> ester + water

41
Q

What is condensation polymerisation?

A

When monomers react together, bonds form between them, making polymer chains. For each new bond that forms, a small molecule (e.g. water) is lost

42
Q

What makes up an amino acid?

A

It contains two different functional groups: a base amino group (NH2) and an acidic carboxyl group (COOH)

43
Q

What are the polymers that amino acids form called?

A

Polypeptides (made via condensation polymerisation)

44
Q

What is DNA made from?

A

Two polymer chains of monomers called nucleotides, which each contain a base, which line up with each other, forming crosslinks which keeps the twoi strands of nucleotides together, giving it the double helix structure