Organic Chemistry Midterm Review: Alkanes, Cycloalkanes, Alkenes, and Alkynes

Vocabulary flashcards for organic chemistry focusing on alkanes, cycloalkanes, alkenes, alkynes, and related concepts.

Alkanes

Saturated hydrocarbons that contain only carbon-carbon single bonds.

Cycloalkanes

Hydrocarbons that contain rings.

Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbons that contain carbon-carbon double or triple bonds.

Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Cyclic compounds structurally related to benzene.

Homologous Series

A series of compounds in which the members are built up in a regular, repetitive way.

Substituents

Groups attached to the main carbon chain.

Alkyl Groups

Saturated substituents containing only carbon and hydrogen.

Conformers

Same molecule that are interconvertible by rotation around a single bond.

Cis-Trans Isomers

A type of stereoisomer also called geometric stereoisomers; substituents are on the same side (cis) or opposite sides (trans) of the ring.

Exothermic Reaction

A reaction that evolves heat energy.

Alkenes

Unsaturated hydrocarbons that contain carbon-carbon double bonds.

Cumulates

Double bonds that are next to each other.

Electrophiles

Electron-poor reactants that seek electrons.

Carbocation

A positively charged carbon atom bonded to three other atoms.

Diels-Alder Reaction

A cycloaddition reaction of a conjugated diene and a dienophile to produce a cyclic product.

Polymer

A large molecule containing repeating units derived from small molecules called monomers.

Distillation

The first step in petroleum refining where oil is heated to separate components.

Vinyl Alcohol/Enol

An alcohol that has a carbon-carbon double bond on the carbon bearing the hydroxyl group.