Organic Chemistry

Flashcards about Organic Chemistry, covering topics from carbon compounds to reactions and polymers.

What is Urea?

A substance normally found in cells as a waste product of protein metabolism and is composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.

Who synthesized the compound urea in 1828?

German chemist Friedrich Wöhler synthesized urea using reactants of a mineral nature.

What are some general chemical and physical properties of carbon compounds?

Carbon compounds are either nonelectrolytes or very weak electrolytes and tend to have low melting points.

What are the natural sources of organic compounds?

Coal and petroleum.

How were coal deposits formed millions of years ago?

Climatic conditions millions of years ago resulted in rapid vegetation growth, leading to plant material deposits that transformed into coal.

What is destructive distillation?

Heating coal in the absence of air to liberate a wide array of carbon compounds.

How were crude oil deposits formed in prehistoric times?

Algae, bacteria, and plankton died and settled into the seafloor, where microbes decomposed the matter, producing methane gas and eventually crude oil.

What was the discarded belief about living materials regarding organic compounds?

A unique way of organization containing a special ingredient absent in nonliving matter.

Why are there so many different carbon compounds compared to compounds of other elements?

Carbon atoms have four electrons available for bonding and can form chains of varying length and rings.

Why do different arrangements of atoms in organic compounds result in different substances?

different arrangements of the same atoms result in different substances, each with a unique chemical and physical identity.

What are hydrocarbons?

Compounds composed of only carbon and hydrogen atoms.

What is the carbon backbone or skeleton?

The longest carbon chain in a hydrocarbon molecule.

What are saturated hydrocarbons?

Molecules made entirely of single carbon-carbon bonds that cannot incorporate additional atoms into their structure.

What are unsaturated hydrocarbons?

Hydrocarbons containing at least one double or triple carbon-carbon bond, allowing for the introduction of additional atoms to the structure.

What are alkanes?

Straight- or branched-chain, saturated compounds containing only single bonds.

How does the number of atoms affect the boiling point of alkanes?

The boiling points of compounds listed in the table increase with increasing numbers of atoms.

What is methane's origin and primary use?

Methane gas, CH4, is produced during the anaerobic decomposition of organic substances and is the major constituent of natural gas.

What is a homologous series?

A series of compounds whose members differ by the addition of the same structural unit, such as -CH2- in alkanes.

What is the general formula for an alkane?

CnH2n+2, where n is the number of carbon atoms in the molecule.

What are structural isomers?

Compounds with the same chemical formula but different arrangements of atoms.

What is cracking?

The process where larger alkanes are broken into smaller alkanes or form new types of compounds containing double-bonded carbon atoms.

What are alkenes?

Straight- or branch-chained hydrocarbons containing at least one double carbon-carbon bond.

What is the general formula for an alkene?

CnH₂n

What series of hydrocarbon compounds contain a triple carbon-carbon bond?

The alkyne series.

What is the general formula for alkynes?

The general formula is CH₂n-2.

What is ethyne's common name, and what is its use?

Ethyne, C₂H₂, is an explosive gas and an important industrial hydrocarbon used frequently in oxyacetylene torches.

What is a cycloalkane?

A saturated hydrocarbon in the form of a ring, named by using the prefix cyclo- in front of the corresponding alkane name.

What is the simplest of the aromatic hydrocarbons?

Benzene, C6H6.

What are delocalized electrons in benzene?

The electrons of benzene are shared equally around the ring and are not associated with any one carbon atom.

What are the main components of petroleum?

Alkanes and cycloalkanes; other substances include oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, sodium chloride, and some metallic elements.

How does fractional distillation separate hydrocarbons in petroleum?

Fractional distillation separates petroleum into groups of products based on different condensation temperatures.

What is a functional group?

Any atom, group of atoms, or organization of bonds that determines specific properties of a molecule.

How are alcohols named?

Replacing the -e ending of the parent alkane with -ol.

What is it about alcohols that makes them more soluble vs corresponding alkanes?

The hydroxyl group (-OH) is polar, allowing for hydrogen bonding and increased solubility in water.

What organic compound is produced from a reaction between organic acids and alcohols?

Esters

What is esterification?

The process where an alcohol loses a hydrogen atom, and the acid loses the -O-H part of its carboxyl group, generating water as a by-product.

How are amides produced?

If an amine or ammonia is treated with an organic acid.

What kind of reactions happens when a hydrogen atom is replaced by another atom or group of atoms?

Substitution reactions.

What happens during an addition reaction?

The double bond opens up, and new constituents are added to the carbon atoms involved.

What are the definitions of oxidation in organic chemistry?

In organic chemistry, oxidation refers to the addition of oxygen to a molecule, the removal of hydrogen from a molecule, or an increase in oxidation number.

What is name for the process when extended chain structures are formed resulting in the potential for very long molecules to be formed?

Polymerization.

What are the names of monomeric units that results in the addition of peptide bond?

Amino acids that is a reaction where the amine end of one molecule is joined with the acid end of another, and water is eliminated.

What was the unexpected observation that led to the discovery of nylon?

The successful production of nylon was partially an accident when a stirring rod pulled long threads that solidified on cooling.