Chemistry: Organic Chemistry: Key terms

Crude oil

a fossil fuel; a mixture consisting mainly of alkanes

Hydrocarbon

a molecule that contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms

Viscous

sticky

Fractional distillation

a separation technique used to separate mixtures which contain components with similar boiling points

Alkanes

saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2

Saturated

a hydrocarbon molecule that only contains single carbon–carbon (C–C) bonds

Combustion

burning

Cracking

the process by which longer-chain hydrocarbons can be broken down into shorter, more useful hydrocarbons

Alkenes

unsaturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n

Unsaturated

a hydrocarbon molecule with at least one double carbon–carbon (C=C) bond

Addition reaction

a reaction in which the reactants join together to form one product

Fermentation

a chemical reaction in which alcohol and carbon dioxide are produced from glucose

Hydroxyl

the -OH group found in alcohols

Homologous series

members of the same family of compounds; they have the same functional group and each one differs from the previous one by the addition of CH2

Carboxyl

the -COOH group found in carboxylic acids

Amino acid

a simple organic compound containing both a carboxyl (–COOH) and an amino (–NH2 ) group

DNA

a very large molecule with a double helix structure, which stores and transmits instructions for the development of living organisms and some viruses

Cellulose

a form of carbohydrate

Alkenes

unsaturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n

Unsaturated

a hydrocarbon molecule with at least one double carbon–carbon (C=C) bond

Polymer

large molecules formed when lots of smaller monomer molecules join together

Monomer

a small molecule that can join together to form a polymer

Addition polymerisation

when many monomers join together to form a large molecule

Condensation polymerisation

when many small monomer molecules join together to form large polymer molecules and small molecules such as water, H2 O

Diol

a molecule with two hydroxyl, -OH, groups

Dicarboxylic acid

a molecule with two carboxyl, -COOH, groups

Polyester

a type of condensation polymer

Amino acid

a simple organic compound containing both a carboxyl (–COOH) and an amino (–NH2 ) group