Introduction to Organic Chemistry Practice Flashcards

Definition-style flashcards covering the historical background, atomic theory, bonding types, and structural theories introduced in Chapter 1 of Organic Chemistry.

Organic Chemistry

The area of chemistry that involves the study of carbon and its compounds.

Vital Force

An early 19th-century belief by Berzelius (1807) that organic chemicals found in nature contained a special force that directed their natural synthesis, making laboratory synthesis impossible.

Friedrich Wöhler (1828)

The scientist who discovered that urea could be synthesized in the laboratory by heating ammonium cyanate, proving that a natural "vital force" was not required.

Valence Theory (1858)

A theory of bonding developed by Kekule and Couper which began the understanding of the structures of organic chemistry.

Quantum Mechanics

The field, accepted around 1926 after the work of Heisenberg and Schroedinger, that found mathematical solutions to the electronic energy levels in atoms.

Shells

The energy levels that surround the nucleus of an atom.

Orbitals

Subshells within energy levels (designated s, p, d, f) that contain up to two electrons.

Aufbau Principle

The principle stating that electrons fill the lower energy levels first until all electrons are used.

Electronegativity

The ability of an atom to attract electrons to itself, which generally increases moving left to right and bottom to top on the periodic table.

Electropositive Elements

Elements, such as alkali metals, that easily lose electrons and attain a positive charge.

Ionic Bond

A bond resulting from one atom giving up an electron while another atom accepts it, typical between atoms of vastly different electronegativity.

Covalent Bond

A bond formed by the sharing of two electrons by two atoms.

Polar Covalent Bond

A type of covalent bond where electrons stay closer to the more electronegative atom, creating small partial charges denoted by the Greek $\delta$ symbol.

Sigma ($\sigma$) Bond

The single covalent bond formed by the overlap of orbitals, such as the overlap of an $sp^3$ hybridized orbital with a hydrogen $1s$ orbital.

Pi ($\pi$) Bond

A bond formed by the side-to-side overlap of p orbitals, occurring in double and triple bonds.

$sp^3$ Hybrid Orbitals

Four new orbitals of equal energy formed by mixing one s and three p orbitals, resulting in a tetrahedral shape with $109.5^\circ$ bond angles.

Alkenes (Olefins)

A class of compounds where carbon atoms are joined by a double bond, consisting of one sigma and one pi bond.

$sp^2$ Hybrid Orbitals

Three orbitals formed by mixing one s and two p orbitals, resulting in a planar molecule with $120^\circ$ bond angles, such as in ethene.

Alkynes

A class of compounds containing a carbon-carbon triple bond, consisting of one sigma and two pi bonds.

sp Hybrid Orbitals

Two orbitals formed by mixing one s orbital with one p orbital, resulting in a linear molecule with $180^\circ$ bond angles, such as in ethyne.

Hydrogen Bonding

The attraction between a partially positive hydrogen atom (bonded to O, N, or F) and the non-bonding electrons on another oxygen or nitrogen atom.

Functional Groups

Specific groups of atoms or bonds (such as alcohols, ketones, and amines) used to classify organic compounds based on their chemical and physical properties.

Cyclic Compounds

Carbon compounds where the carbon atoms exist in rings, such as cyclohexane.