Organic Chemistry - Notes Flashcards
Why are tertiary halogenoalkanes more reactive than primary and secondary halogenoalkanes?
- tertiary HALOGENOALKANES are less stable than primary and secondary
- but they form the most stable tertiary CARBOCATIONS due to the positive inductive effect on the three alkyl groups
- so tertiary halogenoalkanes undergo nucleophilic substitution more readily
Why do tertiary halogenoalkanes undergo Sn1?
- Due to the bulky alkyl groups surrounding the central carbon attached to the halogen, there is not enough space for the nucleophile to attack
- so first the carbon-halogen bond must break without the interference of any other molecules (unimolecular).
- then the carbocation forms and the nucleophile can attack
addition reaction
a reactant is added to an unsaturated molecule to form a single product
substitution reaction
an atom/ group of atoms are replaced with a different atom/group of atoms
elimination reaction
a pair/ group of atoms is removed from a molecules
hydrolysis reaction
a molecule is split apart when it reacts with water
three ways alkane fuels are obtained
- fractional distillation
- cracking
- reforming
Cracking
converts larger alkanes into smaller, more useful alkanes and ethene
cracking conditions
600-700 degrees to vapourise
silica, aluminium oxide, zeolite catalyst
thermal cracking
takes places at high temperatures and pressures WITHOUT a catalyst
Which bonds does catalytic cracking break
and
what is catalytic cracking mainly used to produce?
C--C bonds motor fuels (branched and cycloalkanes) + aromatic compounds
reforming
processing of straight chained hydrocarbons into branched chained alkanes and cyclic hydrocarbons for efficient combustion
Why do we carry out reforming?
straight chained alkanes do not burn evenly in car engines, they cause ‘knocking’ in the engine. Cyclohydrocarbons burn more SMOOTHLY and are BETTER for modern high performance engines.
reforming conditions
- 500 degrees
- platinum/rhodium catalysts
What does a repeating unit drawn out look like?
single bonds
brackets
n
When are addition polymers formed? and what are they?
when monomers containing double bonds are polymerised
they are the repeating unit of monomers
What do the monomers of polymers have to have?
a double bond (which is then broken in polymerisation)
Property of addition polymers (reactivity)
unreactive due to strong C-C and C-H bonds
Disposal of polymers [2]
- non-biodegradable so take up space in landfills
- no groups which can be attacked by water or natural organisms so cannot decompose naturally
recycling of polymers [4]
- polymers sorted into type (automatically with infrared)
- melted and remolded
- saves crude oil
- expensive in energy and man power
polymer incineration [4]
- burnt at high temps
- burning process used for energy generation (high temps prevent poisonous gases from entering the air)
- greenhouse gases such as CO2 produced
- if incomplete combustion then CO produced
polymers as feedstock for cracking [2]
- waste polymers can be used as feedstock for cracking (allows new polymers to be formed)
- process involves decompoistion. polymer heated with no oxygen then decomposes into smaller molecules that can be used as fuel
Life Cycle Assessment polymers [3]
- material, energy, space used to dispose of them
- materials and energy used to make
- materials and energy used to maintain
polymers improvements [2]
- remove waste gases produced during incineration
- make plastics which are biodegradable (eg. polyethanol)