chapters 11, 12 and 13 alkanes and alkenes

addition reactions

2 reactant molecules join together to form one product

stereoisomerism

have the same structural formula but a different arrangement of atoms in 3D space

E/Z isomerism

only occurs in compounds which have a double carbon to carbon bond and 2 different groups attached to each carbon of the carbon to carbon double bond

cis trans isomerism

a special case of E/Z isomerism must have a carbon to carbon double bond, two different groups must be attached to each carbon of the double bond one of the attached groups on each carbon must be the same

aliphatic

carbon atoms are joined together in unbranched or branched chains or non aromatic rings

alicyclic

carbon atoms are joined to eachother in a non aromatic ring, with or without branches

aromatic

some or all of the carbon atoms are found in a benzene ring

homologous series

a family of compounds with similar chemical properties whose successive members differ by the addition of a CH2 group

isomer

molecules which have the same molecular formula but differ in the way their atoms are arranged

structural isomerism

compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulae

homolytic fission

each of the bonded atoms take one electron from the shared pair of electrons in the bond

heterolytic fission

one of the bonded atoms take both electrons from the bond

alkane

very stable organic molecules, main components of natural gas and crude oil, extracted using fractional distilation

sigma bond

the overlap of atomic orbitals between the bonding atoms, each sigma bond has 2 electrons shared between the bonding atoms

radicals

a very reactive species, an atom or group of atoms with unpaired electrons, formed via homolytic fission

alkene

unsaturated hydrocarbons that contain at least one carbon to carbon double bond

markownikoffs rule

in an electrophilic addition reaction the major product is formed via the most stable carbocation intermediate

electrophiles

an atom or group of atoms that is attracted to an electron rich centre and accepts an electron pair. It is usually a positive ion or molecule containing an atom with partial charge