Hydrocarbons Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards for reviewing hydrocarbon chemistry.

Hydrocarbons

Organic compounds consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon.

Valence Electrons (Carbon)

Carbon has four valence electrons, allowing it to form four covalent bonds.

Alkanes

Hydrocarbons with only single carbon-carbon covalent bonds; also known as saturated hydrocarbons.

Alkenes

Hydrocarbons that contain at least one double carbon-carbon bond.

Alkynes

Hydrocarbons that contain at least one triple carbon-carbon bond.

Aliphatic Hydrocarbons

Continuous and branched chain hydrocarbons or nonaromatic rings; can be alkanes, alkenes, or alkynes.

Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Cyclic, coplanar structure with alternating double and single bonds, following Hückel’s Rule; Benzene (C6H6) is a prime example.

IUPAC System

A standardized system for naming organic chemical compounds.

Substituent Group

An atom or group of atoms that replaces a hydrogen atom on the hydrocarbon chain or ring.

Halogens (as substituents)

Common halogen substituents include Fluoro (F-), chloro (Cl-), bromo (Br-).

Alkyl Groups

Alkyl groups are carbon-containing substituents such as Methyl (CH3-), Ethyl (CH3-CH2-), Propyl (CH3-CH2-CH2-), Butyl (CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-).

Phenyl Group

The phenyl group is (C6H5-).

Nitro Group

The nitro group is (-NO2).

Cycloalkanes/Cycloalkenes

Cyclic hydrocarbons; cycloalkenes contain double bonds within the ring structure.

Benzene

A common aromatic hydrocarbon with the formula C6H6.

Isomers

Compounds with the same overall molecular formula but different properties.

Structural/Constitutional Isomers

Compounds with the same molecular formula but different molecular structures.

Stereoisomers

Compounds that differ only in the geometry of their substituent groups.

Geometric/Cis-Trans Isomers

Isomers that occur in cyclic compounds or compounds containing double bonds, designated as cis (same side) or trans (opposite sides).

Enantiomers

Stereoisomers that occur when a central atom (like carbon) has four different atoms or groups attached, resulting in chirality.

Chirality

A property of a molecule that is non-superimposable on its mirror image.