Carbon Skeletons and Functional Groups Vocabulary

Flashcards covering carbon skeletons, functional groups, isomers, and related vocabulary from SBI 4UA lecture notes.

Carbon

Small, relatively light element with four single valence electrons oriented toward the vertices of a regular tetrahedron; can form up to four stable covalent bonds; can form straight and branched chains, and ring structures.

Carbon chains

The skeleton of most organic molecules; can be straight, branched, or arranged in a ring.

Hydrocarbons

Organic molecules made of only carbon and hydrogen; non-polar and can release large amounts of energy.

Isomers

Compounds that have the same molecular formula but different structural formulas.

Structural isomers

Isomers with the same number of atoms but differ in the covalent arrangements of atoms.

Cis-trans isomers (geometric isomers)

Isomers that have covalent bonds to the same atoms but differ in spatial arrangements due to the inflexibility of double bonds.

Enantiomers

Isomers that are mirror images of each other and differ in shape due to the presence of an asymmetric carbon.

Asymmetric carbon

A carbon atom attached to four different atoms or groups of atoms.

Functional groups

Atoms or groups of atoms attached to a molecule that give the molecule particular chemical and physical properties.

Hydroxyl group

A functional group with the chemical formula -OH.

Carbonyl group

A functional group with the chemical formula -COH or -COC-.

Carboxyl group

A functional group with the chemical formula -COOH.

Amino group

A functional group with the chemical formula -NH2.

Sulfhydryl group

A functional group with the chemical formula -SH.

Phosphate group

A functional group with the chemical formula -OPO32-.

Ester group

A functional group with the chemical formula -COOC- .