L33 - Organic Compounds: Fatty Acids, Soaps, Aromaticity, and Amines

Vocabulary flashcards for organic compounds lecture.

Carboxylic Acid

An organic compound containing a carbon with a double bond to an oxygen (carbonyl group) that has another oxygen and a hydrogen attached to it.

Ester

A functional group related to carboxylic acids where, instead of a hydrogen attached to the oxygen, there's a carbon-containing group (e.g., methyl group).

Fatty Acid

A long-chain carboxylic acid, usually between 8 and 20 carbons, derived from fats.

Saturated Fatty Acids

Fatty acids where every carbon is bonded to other carbons with a single bond, containing the maximum number of hydrogen atoms.

Unsaturated Fatty Acids

Fatty acids with one or more double bonds in the hydrocarbon chain, resulting in fewer hydrogen atoms and kinks in the chain.

Soaps

Salts of the conjugate base of fatty acids, produced by reacting a fatty acid or naturally occurring fat with sodium hydroxide; contain a polar head group and a non-polar tail.

Surfactants

Molecules that tend to accumulate at the interface between two phases (polar and non-polar) or at the surface of water, stabilizing these phases.

Triglycerides

Naturally occurring fats consisting of a three-carbon chain with three ester groups attached.

Aromatic Compounds

Compounds containing rings with alternating double and single bonds and a specific number of electrons in the ring, affecting the chemistry of attached groups.

Conjugation

Having alternating double and single bonds along a carbon chain, allowing for delocalization of electrons.

Amines

Nitrogen atoms attached to one or more organic groups, classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary based on the number of carbon-containing groups attached to the nitrogen.

Amino Acids

Compounds with a carbon atom attached to an amine functional group and a carboxylic acid functional group, serving as building blocks of proteins.

Zwitterion

A form of an amino acid where it has both a positive and a negative charge on the same molecule.