Formulas & Isomers/Common Terms

fundamentals quick study sheets

organic chemistry

the study of natural and synthetic materials that have carbon atoms as the key chemical feature. There are more than one million known organic compounds

molecular formula

elemental symbols with subscripts denote the composition of a compound

empirical formula

subscripts denote the relative elemental composition

dash formula

diagram all atoms; show bonds as dashes

bond-line formula

hide H; carbon atoms are depicted as lines, but other atoms are shown explicitly

newman projection

2-d depiction

3-dimensional

wedges of sawhorse denote struture

constitutional isomers

different bonding connectivity

ex: rings, bonds, branching, substituent positions

tautomers

easily interconverted structural isomers

chiral

not identical with its mirror image

ex: keto-enol for ketone

achiral

has a plane of symmetry

ex: superimposable on its mirror image

epimers

pair of diastereomers which differ only in the configuration of one atom

aliphatic

non-aromatic

aromatic

benzene ring

conjugation

sequence of alternating double (or triple) and single bonds

dielectric effect

polar solvent stabilizes ion formation

exergonic reactions

chemical reaction that loses energy during the process of the reaction

heterocyclic

non-carbon atom in the ring structure

hydrocarbon

compound of H and C

Ketose

molecule made up of monosaccharide bonded to a ketone

monosaccharide

carbohydrate that cannot be reduced by hydrolysis into another simple sugar

hydrolysis

a chemical process where a molecule is split into two or more smaller molecules by the addition of a water molecule

olefin

alkene

paraffin

alkane

radioisotope

an unstable isotope of an element that spontaneously emits radiation as it decays into a more stable form

(isotope that is radioactive)

saturated

max # of Hs (all C-C single bonds)

tetrose

monosaccharide with all four carbon atoms

unsaturated

at least one C-C multiple bond

zymurgy

the study of the process of fermentation