Organic Chemistry Flashcards
Chiral center
A carbon atom with four different atoms or groups attached to it; sometimes called an asymmetric carbon atom
Cis-Trans Isomerism
two compounds have the same structural formula, but the groups are arranged differently in space around a double bond or a ring
diastereomers
stereoisomers that are not mirror images of each other
electrophile
a reagent (a positively charged ion or the positive end of a dipole) that is attracted to regions of high electron density and accepts a pair of electrons to form a covalent bond; an electrophile is a lewis acid.
Free radical
Is a species (atom or groups of atoms) with an unpaired electron; free radicals are very reactive because of this unpaired electrons
Functional group
Is an atom or group of atoms that gives an organic molecule its characteristic chemical properties
Homologous series
a series of compounds with the same functional group, in which each member differs from the next by -CH2-
Homolytic fission
a covalent bond breaks such that one electron goes back to each atom making up the original covalent bond
Hydrocarbon
A compound containing hydrogen and carbon only
Hydrogenation
the addition of hydrogen (H2) to a compound containing multiple bonds
Hydrolysis
a reaction in which a covalent bond in a molecule is broken by reaction with water, most commonly hydrolysis reactions occur when a molecule is reacted with an aqueous acid or aqueous alkali
Markovnikov’s rule
When H-X adds across the double bond of an alkene, the H atom becomes attached to the C atom that has the larger number of H atoms already attached
Monomer
A molecule from which polymer chain may be built up, e.g ethene is the monomer for polyethene
Nucleophile
A molecule/negatively charged ion, possessing a lone pair of electrons, which is attracted to a more positively charged region in a molecule and donates a lone pair of electrons to form a covalent bond; a nucleophile is a Lewis base
Optical Isomerism
When molecules have the same molecular and structural formula, but groups are arranged differently in space and the individual optical isomers are non-superimposable mirror images of each other; optical isomers rotate the plane of the plane-polarised light in opposite directions
SN1
A unimolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction - only one species involved in the rate-determining step
SN2
a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction - two species involved in the rate-determining step
Stereoisomers
Molecules with the same molecular formula and structural formula but the atoms are arranged differently in space; Cis-trans isomers, conformational isomers are optical isomers are stereoisomers
Structural isomers
Two or more compounds that have the same molecular formula but different structural formulas, i.e. the atoms are joined together in a different way
