Organic Chemistry - Introduction and Concepts

Vocabulary and key concepts from the lecture notes on introductory organic chemistry, including the history, unique properties of carbon, classification of hydrocarbons, and types of chemical reactions.

Organic (Definition)

A word that means pertaining to life and refers to compounds once believed to be obtained only from living sources like plants and animals.

Inorganic compounds

Substances like common salt, blue vitriol, and nitrate produced from minerals and non-living sources.

Vital force theory

The discarded belief that organic compounds were products of some "vital force" of nature and could not be prepared in a laboratory.

Friedrich Wöhler

A German chemist who in 1828 showed it was possible to obtain the organic compound urea, $CO(NH_{2})<em>{2}$, from the inorganic compound ammonium cyanate, $NH</em>{4}CNO$.

Kolbe

The scientist who in 1845 prepared acetic acid ($CH_{3}COOH$) from its constituent elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Berthelot

The scientist who in 1856 synthesized methane gas ($CH_{4}$).

Organic Chemistry

Essentially the chemistry of carbon compounds, or the study of hydrocarbons and their derivatives.

Excluded Carbon Compounds

Compounds that contain carbon but are not classified as organic, including oxides of carbon, metallic carbonates, metal cyanides, and metal carbides.

Coal (as a source)

A source of organic compounds like benzene, toluene, naphthalene, dyes, drugs, and perfumes through destructive distillation.

Petroleum (as a source)

A source of organic compounds like gasoline, fuel gases, petrol, and naphtha.

Fermentation

A process used to obtain organic compounds such as ethyl alcohol and acetic acid.

Wood (as a source)

A source used to obtain methyl alcohol and acetone through destructive distillation.

Organic vs. Inorganic Bonding

Organic compounds form covalent bonds, while most inorganic compounds form ionic bonds.

Organic vs. Inorganic Conductivity

Organic compounds are non-electrolytes, while inorganic compounds with ionic bonds are good electrolytes.

Tetravalency of carbon

The characteristic where carbon has four valence electrons (Electronic Configuration = 2, 4) and forms four covalent bonds by sharing electrons.

Catenation

The unique property of atoms of an element (exhibited to the maximum extent by carbon) to link together through covalent bonds to form straight, branched, or cyclic chains.

Isomerism

The phenomenon where two or more compounds have the same molecular formula but different structures (bond arrangements), such as glucose and fructose which both have the formula $C_{6}H_{12}O_{6}$.

Hydrocarbons

Organics compounds made only of carbon and hydrogen atoms.

Aliphatic compounds

Open chain hydrocarbons, which can be further sub-divided into saturated and unsaturated compounds.

Saturated Hydrocarbons (Alkanes)

Hydrocarbons represented by the formula $C_{n}H_{2n+2}$ where all carbon valencies are satisfied by single covalent bonds.

Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons that have double or triple covalent bonds between adjacent carbon atoms, meaning more hydrogen or other atoms can be added to them.

Alkenes

Unsaturated hydrocarbons with double bonds between two carbon atoms, represented by the formula $C_{n}H_{2n}$.

Alkynes

Unsaturated hydrocarbons with triple bonds between two carbon atoms, represented by the formula $C_{n}H_{2n-2}$.

Alicyclic compounds

Ringed carbon compounds containing three or more atoms of carbon arranged in a closed structure, such as cyclopropane ($C_{3}H_{6}$) or cyclopentane ($C_{5}H_{10}$).

Aromatic compounds

Hydrocarbons containing at least one benzene ring, typically having a pleasant smell, such as toluene, phenol, and naphthalene.

Benzene ring

A specific ring structure of six carbon atoms having carbon-carbon single and carbon-carbon double bonds in alternate positions.

Substitution reaction

A reaction in which one atom of a molecule is replaced by another atom (or group of atoms), typical of saturated compounds (e.g., $CH_{4} + Cl_{2} \rightarrow CH_{3}Cl + HCl$).

Addition reaction

A reaction involving the addition of atoms or molecules to the double or triple bond of an unsaturated compound to yield a saturated product (e.g., $C_{2}H_{4} + Br_{2} \rightarrow C_{2}H_{4}Br_{2}$).